Wake up, Flower
by Maxie Fonseca
Summary: Lily, after returning to Hogwarts following the death of her parents, goes through many different trials and tribulations before graduation, but not without her faithful friends. LilyxJames
1. Wake up, Flower

_Rob: Why hullo there. -waves energetically- And welcome to the world of Caila who was bored during chem and this idea hit her like a brick. Well, not like a brick. More like one of those individually wrapped tic tacs that her friend threw at her so she would wake up. And after much thinking, especially while she made up a dance during gym and got out of gym 10 minutes early for being happy, she decided to write said idea up. Thus, this was born._

Okay, yeah. None of this belongs to me. Except for the plot, and maybe a few characters that I create off the top of my head.. Lily and James and Sirius and Remus and the Rat and Dumbledore and Snape and McGonagall and Hogwarts and everyone else belongs to J.K. Rowling. And Bambi belongs to Disney. One of my favorite movies, ever. Besides Singin' in the Rain. Maybe I'll put that in here as well. -ponders- Anyway, on to the fic. It'll be only one chapter, methinks. Maybe two. Yup. So read, and review. This is my first try at a Harry Potter fic, so bear with me xD My forte is writing Tamora Pierce fanfics.Or at least I think so x.x So read and review and let me know if I should continue with the idea to write a full-length L/J…

Oh yeah, okay, teh whole big italics thingummy in the middle is a giant flashback. It was only going to be the first scene of it, and then i just kept writing. So yeah. Enjoy!

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Waking up early was never pleasant. Especially when one was woken up on a Saturday, the one day you thought to sleep in. Especially when it was the middle of winter, a week or so after the Christmas holiday, which to this certain person was very taxing, and the whole of Hogwarts, especially the seventh-year girls dormitory, was freezing cold. Especially when all you could find of your clean pajamas the night before was a t-shirt and shorts. Especially when you were woken up by having your nice, warm, fluffy blankets pulled off of you, followed by someone lying down next to you and bellowing in your ear,

"Wake up, Flower!" The comment made her body stiffen, but in her stupefied state the girl could not remember why.

However, she knew one thing. For all the above mentioned reasons, it was doubly, no, triply, no, a hundred times more unpleasant when the person who was waking you up was James Potter. Especially if you were a certain red-head named Lily Evans. Lily rolled back over after pushing James away from her, but he managed to hold on to the bedposts and avoided falling off the bed.

"Wake up, Flower!" He crowed again, but Lily could barely hear him due to the fact that she had pulled her pillow over her head and was trying to drown him out. After a few moments of that, she seemed to realize that he was really there, and sat up.

"Potter, what are you doing here? And please shut up. I'm sure that you've already woken up-" True to her suspicions, one of her roommates poked her head through the curtains.

"Um, Lily, I was sure I heard a voice…"Mary Parkinson mumbled sleepily.

"You did," Lily said, a hint of anger and detachment present in her voice. "Potter decided that it would be funny to wake me up. I'm trying to find out why. Go back to sleep, dear."

"Alright," Mary nodded, still half asleep. As she mumbled a "Toodles, James," they watched as she stumbled across the room before collapsing in her bed. Lily shook her head before rising and drawing Mary's curtains closed around her, and returned to her bed quickly,pulling the blankets back around herself. Realizing that James was still sitting there with an expectant look on his face, she glared and turned it full force on him.

"Potter, I do believe I asked you what you were doing here. And how did you get up here, anyway? I was sure that Professor McGonagall charmed the stairs after you-"

"Ah, so _that's_ why theyturn into a slide when Siriustrys to come up to see- well, when he trys to come up." He sighed happily, remembering the prank they had played on Lily a year or so ago before the oh so jolly Professor made it much harder. Himself, Sirius, and Remus (well, more like Remus, for he _was_ better at charms than them) had charmed Lily's clothes to fly away from her when she reached for them. It culminated in Lily, clothed in a badly transfigured robe, whacking James over the head with her very heavy advanced charms book. Rubbing his head gingerly, he was brought back to the present when Lily fell back onto her pillows.

"So?" She asked, and he tapped his forehead.

"Ah, my dear Flower Evans, I do have my secrets." Lily snorted.

"Flower Evans?" He grinned.

"Sirius was the one who started it, dearest Lily." She hit him over the head, and rolled back over, intending to go to sleep. James, however, pulled her back to face him and asked,

"Do you want to come outside with us? We're having a snowball fight later. School wide. I'm hoping to get McGonagall to come, and maybe we'll get to hit her with a few-" Lily hit him over the head again, and rolled back over a second time. After a few minutes, James put his head on the pillow next to her and asked,

"What are you doing, Flower?"

"I'm hibernating," Lily managed to mumble, the words coming almost automatically.

"What do you wanna do that for?"

The words, "All us flowers-" had escaped her mouth before she realized why the statement James had made before had made her stiffen. Her mind traveled back to a memory of three Christmases ago, the last one she had spent at home…

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_Snow fell gently against the window, and Lily grinned at the sight of it. Her muggle friends would be up for a snowball fight later, after presents, and it was just the thing to get Petunia off her back. Giggling, for Mary, one of her best friends at Hogwarts, had given Petunia the nickname 'Tuna', a fish that Lily couldn't stand, she almost didn't notice the door creak open. But she did, for the hinges needed to be oiled, and she quickly pulled the blankets over her head again. Someone pulled the blankets away from her feet, and tickled the sole of one foot energetically. Stiffiling her laughter, she heard her mother bellow,_

_"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up, Flower!"_

_"Is it spring yet?" She asked, continuing with their Christmas tradition of quoting Lily's favorite childhood movie, Bambi._

_"Nope, Winter's just started." Her mother replied cheerfully as she pulled the blankets off of Lily. "What-cha doing? Hibernating?"_

_"Uh huh." Lily murmured, pretending to fall back asleep._

_"What-cha want to do that for?"_

_"All us flowers sleep in winter. Well, good night." After that statement, Lily yawned and pulled the blankets over her head. Her mother, not to be duped, sat on Lily's feet. However, she said quite seriously,_

_"Those who don't wake up don't get their presents…" Lily was up like a rocket, almost knocking her mother off the bed. She started jumping up and down on the bed, grinning as her mother joined her. After jumping a few more times, shouting "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!", they slid off the bed and sat in the windowsill. Lily's mother, Margaret, produced a small dark red velvet jewelry box, and handed it carefully to her._

_"Mother-"_

_"We, your father and I, decided to get you something special. We know Petunia's been hard on you," She ignored Lily's snort at this understatement. "And we wanted you to know we appreciate you, well, not hexing her. And we didn't want her to get jealous over this. So," She gestured for Lily to open the box, and Lily gasped as what was in the box sparkled in the half-light provided by the light snow-storm. _

_Nestled in the cranberry silk lay a silver chain necklace, on which hung a small silver lily, covered with small scattered diamonds. Placed underneath it were a pair of pearl-drop earrings that Lily recognized as her grandmother's, who had given them to Margaret before she died. They were her mother's favorites, and Lily threw herself at the woman, hugging her tightly. _

_"Thank you so much, mum!" She managed to say, before she buried her face in her mother's hair. "Thank you!" Lily murmured again, and Margaret laughed. _

_"Now put them on, and show the nice people." Lily quickly complied, rushing over to her mirror and carefully pushing the drops into her pierced ears before lifting her hair and asking her mother to put the necklace on her. She grinned at her reflection, looking much older than her fourteen years, and kissed her mother on the cheek before scrambling downstairs, promising to herself that she would never miss a Christmas at her house, even when she was married. Lily shuddered for a second, for both Ash and Sirius, along with the rest of them,predicted that Lily and James would get married within five years of leaving Hogwarts, but pushed the thought away. James would be at the back of her mind today, and she sat happily in front of the tree with its presents underneath it, watching the colored lights twinkle, reflecting off the glass balls merrily._

_But Lily did not keep her promise to herself. Yes, the next holiday she did show up, but it ended in a huge row about Petunia's treatment of Lily, after which Lily stormed out of the house due to the fact that her parents (well, mainly her father) expressed the thought that Petunia may be right, the day before Christmas Eve. Quite accidentally calling the Knight Bus to her aid, Lily managed to yell, "I won't come back next year!", before she was escorted to a small bunk and informed that a bunk would cost her seven sickles, and a toothbrush would be two. Ordering a cup of hot chocolate (one sickle, three knuts), she curled up on the bed and eventually cried herself to sleep. Upon her arrival at Hogwarts, she had brushed past the waiting Marauders, informed them that if they played a prank on her they would die a slow and painful death, and carefully took off the lily necklace and the earrings, placing them in a secret draw in her nightstand, planning to not take them out again._

_And with that in mind, Lily Evans told herself that she wouldn't return. She spent the summer at Mary's house, along with a week with Remus. And when school started, she promised herself that she would stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. And she kept the promise, that year, going to Ash's for the holiday this time, and spending a few weeks with Cai and Stephanie. But next year, seventh year, when the holiday arrived, she found herself missing her mother more and more. Not as much her father, for they had grown apart since she left for Hogwarts, but she missed her mother terribly. And it was with the mindset that she would sort things out with her parents that Lily asked the Marauders to sneak her out of Hogwarts on Christmas Eve to meet the Knight Bus. But her hope was short-lived, as when she arrived at her home all was left was a pile of smoldering rubble. Lily stood there dumbstruck, until a neighbor caught a glimpse of her through the window and walked outside. _

_"Lily," the old lady said gently, but Lily pushed her aside and walked up to what remained of the front steps. She crouched down and touched the cement gently, and smiled softly as she saw where she and Petunia had etched their names, when she was nine and Petunia was eleven,when their father, Tom, had poured fresh cement onto the walk. _

_"Lily, dear, I'm so sorry," The woman said again, but Lily wasn't listening. As the woman went on to explain that it had just happened hours ago, and that no one was in the neighborhood when the fire had occurred, Lily got up from her position on the ground and walked around the remains to what remained of her backyard. Luckily, the fire had not damaged the small little play-house that stood on the edge of the woods and her backyard, and Lily carefully pushed open the small door and knelt to look inside._

_She smiled as she caught glimpses of her stuffed animals. One of her first times she had used her magic was when she made her stuffed deer prance around, and she gladly reached for the animal._

_"Prongs…" Lily whispered, and hugged the deer tightly before emerging and walking towards the woman, who had kept a respectful distance._

_"Lily, darling, your parents…" At that she sniffed, and Lily felt her world crumble._

_"My parents? My parents what? And what about Petunia?"_

_The woman, whom Lily now recognized as Mrs. Brown, her older Spanish neighbor, caught Lily up in a hug._

_"Petunia wasn't home. And your parents- Lo siento, Lily." _

_But Lily broke away. "They're dead? No. They can't be. They'll be here, and I can apologize for not coming last Christmas, because I came back. They can't be gone. They just can't." She sat on the ground, unmoving, until a flash of light caught her eye. Both Lily and Mrs. Brown watched as a dark green mark flared through the sky, followed by another flash of light. _

_"Carmen," She heard a familiar voice say, and she recognized him as Professor Dumbledore. _

_"Yes Albus?" Lily was a bit shocked to hear her neighbor say Professor Dumbledore's first name, but she tuned out the rest of their conversation as they continued._

_"Was it-" He broke off as she nodded glumly._

_"The sister survived, Albus. Should I go watch her? I trust Lily in your care." The Headmaster gestured to Lily, who was weeping on the cold ground and clutching the deer to her._

_"Did anything of hers survive?" The woman shook her head slightly, but then gestured to the backyard._

_"Whatever was in that playhouse. But I think it was only stuffed animals. I put a charm on it when Lily was young to keep mold away." He frowned slightly. "Albus, I know she left on bad terms. She'll be hurting for a long time." He nodded, and clasped her shoulder._

_"Thank you for watching her, Carmen. If you could inform-"_

_"The Ministry? Of course. I was waiting for you to show up. Take care of her, por favor."_

_"Gracias, Carmen.I hope to speak with you when all of this is finished._

_"Albus, please tell her I'm sorry. I was visiting my son and grandchildren, and-"_

_"It's not your fault. But I will tell her that, if you wish. Do you have an extra cloak? She looks cold." Carmen nodded and walked into her own home, emerging a few minutes later with a cloak and a heavy blanket, along with a few sickles. As she handed them to Albus, she said,_

_"She'll need a hot chocolate, Albus. And-" She broke off as Dumbledore raised his hand._

_"I know, I know. It's so hard a such a young age. Carmen, will you inform the Ministry at this time? I'll take Miss Evans back to Hogwarts, now. Oh, and tell Alastor that I'll contact him tomorrow." The woman nodded in response, and clasped Dumbledore's outstretched hand, murmuring,_

_"Adios, Albus," before apparating to the Ministry._

_Dumbledore knelt next to Lily, and patted her shoulder comfortingly._

_"Miss Evans-" He was interrupted by Lily standing and wiping her eyes._

_"Professor," She said, after she blew her nose, "I would appreciate it if you told no one about this. I do not want, nor deserve their pity." Dumbledore nodded slowly, and motioned for Lily to follow him. She complied, still clutching the stuffed deer, grabbed her overnight bag from its spot on the blackened front walk, and sat on the curb as he stuck out his wand arm, calling for the Knight Bus. The driver recognized both of them, and ushered them towards a more secluded set of bunks in the back of the bus, and on the third story._

_"We'll just add this to the bill then, Professor. And it's good to see you again, Miss Lily. Did you find what you were looking for?"_

_Lily nodded her head stiffly, and sat on her assigned bed, not saying a word. Dumbledore watched her closely, but did not speak, as she stared at the English countryside passing quickly by, all the while petting the deer._

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Lily was jolted back to the present as James shook her.

"Flower? Evans, snap out of it." As Lily turned to face him, he noticed the presence of tears on her cheeks and his annoyed tone disappeared. "Flower? What's wrong?" Wiping off her cheeks, she pushed him away and jumped off the bed, opening her nightstand drawer and taking out the necklace. James let out a small gasp as the light hit the diamonds, but Lily ignored him and after she had put on the necklace she reached for the stuffed deer. He grinned, and asked,

"What's it called?" When she didn't respond, he said, "Well, it would be really funny if it's name was Prongs. Hillarious, even."

"Why would it be funny?" She asked stiffly, her voice cracking.

He looked at her strangely. "Is it named that?"

"Why would it be funny?" She repeated. After he didn't respond, she shook her head and wrapped a robe around herself. Grabbing her wand she pointed it at James, who was now standing in front of the door. "Move. Please." He shook his head. "Now. Ja- Potter. Please move." He hesitated for a second before looking her in the eye, and then stepped to the side to let her out. James followed her down the hallway, but when he moved his foot onto the top step the entire staircase turned into a slide. Lily shrieked as James fell into her, and they landed in a tangled heap of arms and legs at the foot of the stairs.

"Well isn't this interesting," They heard Sirius say. "I sent you up to find her, and you managed to bring Lily down here with only minor injury to yourself. Bravo Pr- James, bravo." He applauded, but James could only see a fuzzy outline of him. James put his hand to his face, grimaced as he realized his glasses were, in fact, knocked off, and reached around for them, accidentally placing his hand on Lily's face.

"Mmph!" She yelled, and he quickly removed his hand.

"Sorry, sorry," He said loudly as he plunked his glasses back on his head. After standing, he offered Lily a hand up, which she ignored. As she got up, Sirius bounded over to her and asked,

"So are you coming to the snowball fight, Flower?" Lily gasped, but quickly composed herself. They had just started calling her 'Flower' before the holidays, and its memory was one of the reasons why she had gone back to her home. And with Lily hiding in her dormitory most of the week, the Marauders hadn't gotten the chance to call her it. But this sudden influx of memories was overpowering her composure. She lifted her head, and looked Sirius in the eye before replying coldly,

"No Black. I do not think I will." She could have sworn he looked crestfallen, but she moved on to James. "And Potter, if you even attempt to ask me out, I will hex you to infinity and beyond. You would think that after getting rejected six hundred and seventy three times you would cease and desist." Lily turned to leave, but James held onto her arm.

"Where are you going, Flower?"

"And stop calling me that ridiculous name. I hate- hate-" She broke off, and then stomped over to the portrait hole, dragging James with her. "Let go of my arm!"

"Not until you tell me where you're going, Fl- Lily." She shook him off of her before saying,

"The Head's Rooms. You know, the place we're supposed to share. The place that i haven't bothered going to much since the beginning of school. But I don't want to see any of you in there today. At all." Opening the portrait, she stepped outside with as much dignity as one can muster, jumping over a foot high bit of wall. James quickly walked towards her, and stuck his head out of the portrait hole.

"Hey Lily!" She stopped, but didn't turn towards him. Spying a few pieces of paper on the floor, he transfigured two of them into a pair of slippers. He sent them towards Lily, and she finally turned towards him. After looking him in the eyes for a few seconds, she nodded and murmured,

"Thank you James." He grinned, and she pulled on the slippers before continuing towards their Common Room. In a semi-daze, he turned and walked back into the Gryffindor Common Room, where Sirius was standing there dejectedly.

"What did you do to her, Prongs? You made her cry! I thought that we were never supposed to make her cry-"

"I didn't make her cry, Padfoot. She just started on her own, and then left. But-"

"But what, Jamesie-poo?"

"Don't call me that. But did you realize? She remembered how many times I asked her out! That shows something!"

Sirius clapped him on the shoulder. "Prongs, mate, she rejected you every time."

"But still! _And_ she called me James! It's an improvement!" Sirius shook his head sadly and then sighed.

"James… you're crazy. And I guess we're going to need to find someone else to charm the snowballs to go after Snivellus and Minnie."

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_And there you go. The first chapter. It was only going to be one chapter, but this was getting to be too long. There'll be two chapters xD Go and review!_

_On careful inspection i've decided there'll probably be more than two chapters xD Heh. But i can't update until like, tomorrow.._


	2. Sirius, Minnie, and the love of a Lily

_Oops, sorry this took awhile xD Okay, so it's going to be more than two chapters. Since this is the second chapter xD Maybe about 5. I dunno. Maybe less. Who really knows. But luckily, school ends June 10. Finals end the 23, and then i can write to my hearts delight xD_

_So read this, and review. Might not be my best, cause i wrote the... say. last 4 pages of it (out of 8) from 7:30 until 8:45-ish, and i'm half asleep and on pain meds for my sprained ankle -grins ruefully- Oh well. Please review xD_

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Sirius stared at the wall of the dilapidated snow hut, blinking owlishly every few seconds.

"Er, Padfoot?" Sirius shook his head to clear it before looking at James.

"Yes, Prongsie?" James made a face, and gestured to the piles of snowballs.

"You see, Sirius, we're making snowballs." Sirius nodded. "And we need help." Sirius nodded again, and went back to staring at the wall. "Sirius, get your lazy arse off of that chair and help!" The boy in question rolled his eyes before patting his armchair.

"Ah, poor Army. He'll get cold!" He quickly transfigured the chair back into a pinecone, and was rewarded by a bit of snow falling down the back of his robes. "Yeowch!" He roared, while trying to get the snow out of his robes. James laughed at the comical sight: Sirius, who was currently hopping around on one foot, trying in vain to reach his back. However, it ceased to be hilarious when Sirius started to squish the snowball piles.

"Padfoot!" James yelled, and Sirius stopped his dancing.

"Yes, James?"

"You're ruining the snowballs!" Remus and Peter looked up from their work and nodded.

"He's right, mate-"

"Really, Sirius, I worked so hard on these-" Sirius waved them off, and bent to make a small snowman.

"Boys," The other three Marauders rolled their eyes, "Be amazed by my skill." Waving his wand and muttering an incantation, the snowman immediately started to roll snowballs. Sirius grinned and transfigured his pinecone back into an armchair as the other boys followed his example, filling the snow hut with armchairs in varying shades of red and gold. After sitting for a few moments, occupying their time by staring at the crumbling wall, and trying to decide whether or not they should get up to fix it, they heard voices from outside the hut.

"Really, Albus, is coming outside in the snow necessary?" Sirius grinned mischievously as he recognized Professor McGonagall's voice.

"But of course, Minnie," They heard Dumbledore say excitedly, and McGonagall sighed at the use of the nickname Sirius had bestowed on her. "The students will be having their snowball fight soon. And-"

"And we'll be making sure they do not use charms or hex the snowballs or anything of the like, correct?" They heard Dumbledore gasp.

"Minerva, you are- You can't suggest that! It's the first real snow! They need their fun!"

"Albus," McGonagall said kindly, "It's January. This is at least the 8th snowfall."

"Well," Dumbledore drawled, "It's the first real snowfall of January. And no, I am not counting the two inches that fell three days ago."

Sirius grinned as he heard Dumbledore's exclamation. He happened to think the same exact way. As he bent to gather snowballs, he suddenly realized that they weren't charmed to go straight to McGonagall.

"Hey Prongs," He said quietly, "Can you go get Lily?" James blanched.

"Er, mate-"

"Brilliant," Sirius muttered, not paying attention to what James was saying. "I'll go keep Minnie busy."

"But-" James spluttered. "She told me not to bother her!"

"Has that ever stopped you before?" Remus asked, rolling his eyes.

"Well, why don't you charm the snowballs?" James asked him, and Remus shrugged. "I'm not going to-"

He was interrupted by Sirius standing and saying, "Toodles!" Quite cheerfully, before he walked through the snow wall.

"Padfoot!" The other Marauders yelled as the wall collapsed around him.

"Why didn't you go through the door?" Peter whined. Sirius turned around from his spot outside and looked at him quizzically.

"There was a door?"

Remus sighed, and motioned for Sirius to get going before turning his attention back on James. However, the boy in question was listening to what was taking place outside.

"Oi! Minnie!"

The professor in question spun around and said angrily, "Mr. Black, do not call me by that ridiculous name!" She glared at Dumbledore, who was trying not to laugh. "And Albus, do not encourage him!"

"Minnie," Sirius said gaily as he slid his arm through the crook of McGonagall's elbow, "Enjoy the snow!" Winking at Dumbledore, he murmured, "Nice use of the nickname, sir." McGonagall turned her glare on Sirius, and he flinched. "Uh… Professor Minnie?" Seeing McGonagall still glaring, Sirius turned to Dumbledore. "Ah yes, Professor Dumble-bumble, how are you today? Did you like the Christmas present I got you?"

Dumbledore grinned. "But of course, my boy, I've always wanted socks. Everyone," He looked at McGonagall, "Seems to think I want books."

Sirius sighed dramatically. "I know what you mean, sir. So many of the innocent little Hogwartens-"

"Hogwartens?" McGonagall interrupted.

"Yes, Hogwartens. Now, where was I? Oh yes. The little innocent Hogwartens. Now, as I was saying, before darling Minnie here interrupted me, the innocent little Hogwartens seem to think that all I want for Christmas is candy and books on pranks." After thinking for a moment, he continued, saying, "Well, all right, that really _is_ all I want, but they don't need to figure that out. Plus, all my pranks come from my ingenious mind. Didncyha know that, Minnie?

"Although, I would really like one of the little Hogwartens to buy me a new broom. James seems to think he can fly faster than me, and I would really like to beat him at his best game. Of course, knowing the little children, they would buy me a terrible broom. I guess they could always ask my fan club as to what broom would be best for my body type. Oh yes, Minnie, have you heard? I have a fan club! Isn't it joyous? The same things that cause me to have glorious detention with you from now until five years after I graduate have caused me to have a following! I hear that they couldn't elect a club president this year. Why don't you run for the position? I'm sure you would win. You know you love me." McGonagall let out what sounded like a snort, and Sirius turned on her. "Minnie! What would the professors say? What would Professor Dumble-bumble say?" He turned to Dumbledore, and tapped his head. "Ah yes, Professor, what would you say?"

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled. "Ah, young boy, I would say that dear Minnie needs some enjoyment at this moment."

Sirius grinned. "Right along the lines of what I was thinking, sir!" Putting his arm back through the crook of McGonagall's elbow, for she had removed it while she was trying not to laugh, he led her and Dumbledore further along the field, shouting gaily, "Come on, Minnie! I'll teach you how to make a snowball!"

"I don't believe it," Peter said excitedly, "He called her Minnie at least ten times, and he didn't get detention!"

"She secretly loves it," James replied absentmindedly.

"James?" Remus asked.

"Uh huh?"

"Aren't you going to go get Lily?"

"Nah," James murmured quietly, and settled back into his armchair.

"You're going to give up the chance to see Lily?" James shrugged in response.

"I doubt she wants to see anyone right now, much less me. She seemed upset."

Remus looked at him, quite shocked.

"Yeah Remus," Peter echoed, "I bet she doesn't want to see James now. Right, buddy?" He punched James shoulder lightly, and looked for the grin of support, but was shocked to see James frowning slightly.

Remus thought for a few moments before nodding his head to a thought. "Ah, but James, you said Lily was upset, correct?" James nodded glumly. "And knowing you, you would do anything to make her feel better, right? Which, in this case, you feel it would be leaving her alone." James nodded again. "You git!" Dusting off a pinecone, he transfigured it into a newspaper and started hitting James on the head.

"Prongs," He continued, "This is the one time where I am telling you to go and annoy Lily. Visiting her would take her mind off of whatever happened over break, and we need to get her here anyway." When James didn't get up, Remus hit him once again with the newspaper and started repeating himself.

"I heard you the first time, Moony!" James said defensively as he rose. "I was thinking it over!" Peter started chuckling, and James grinned slightly.

"James," Peter said, in between laughs, "You never think anything over when it comes to Lily." James shrugged ruefully.

"I'm trying something different now. I mean, we have half of the school year left before Padfoot is released to the world. I for one want to make the most of these next six months before the spontaneous combustion of the earth, and that would include Lily by my side." Remus rolled his eyes, but motioned towards the crumbled snow wall.

"Go, shoo, go get Lily. Wormtail and I can hold down the fort." Remus hit James one more time on the head before pushing him out of the hut. "And don't come back until you have Lily."

James grinned as he strode through the snow, and as soon as he was out of sight of the other students he ducked behind a tree and transformed into his animagus form, a stag. Galloping through the freshly fallen powder proved to be too much of a temptation, and so he did a few laps around the lake before heading back to the castle. As he came upon Sirius and the Professors he slowed his pace slightly, and nodded stiffly as Sirius waved. Dumbledore waved to him as well, and not for the first time James wondered if Dumbledore knew that three out of the four Marauders were animagi.

Turning around a corner of the castle, he ran into a bush before changing back. After casting a drying spell to dry his now soaked hair and clothes, James pushed open a smaller door placed in one of the two big entrance doors to the castle, and walked inside. After walking for a few minutes, he slid into one of the secret passages and emerged in front of the Head's dorms. He hid in the shadows as a girl passed, and he recognized her as Mary, the girl from Lily's dorm. She seemed to be angry about something, but James forgot about her as she turned the corner, and he knocked on the entrance to their common room.

Lily sat in the window seat overlooking the grounds of Hogwarts, and banged her head against the pane of glass. Rubbing her head ruefully, she sighed as the sound of knocking reached her ears.

"I don't want to talk to anyone right now, Mary. I already told you that. Go away." After a few minutes of silence she turned back to hitting her head on the window. The creaking of the door made her fall out of her seat, and she glared at what she saw before her.

"Potter," Lily said angrily, "I thought I told you not to bother me." James shrugged, and offered her a hand up. She looked at the hand for a second before taking it, and pulled herself up. Settling herself back on the seat, James followed suit and leaned against a pillow.

"Flower, what's wrong?" James asked quietly. "Was Tuna-face mean to you again?" He was referring to the time he, Sirius, and Remus had gotten lost while flying, and had taken refuge at the Evans'. Petunia, at first, had been very taken with the boys, but when she found out they were 'freaks' like her sister, she had thrown all of their things out the front door. James grinned slightly, remembering Sirius' reaction to the girl, but turned his attention back to Lily, who was tightening her grip on the pillow she had pulled into her lap.

"Please don't call me that, James," Lily murmured, and turned her face back to the window. Changing the subject, she remarked, "I saw a deer out there, running around the lake. I've seen it a few times before, have you? I wonder if it's a doe. I'd like to see a little fawn running around."

"It's a stag," James replied without thinking.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "It is? And how would you know that?" James shrugged while trying to think of an answer.

"Well, I've seen him around before, and there never were any fawns running around with him." She seemed to accept the answer, and James asked, "So, will you come with us?" Lily shook her head, and James frowned. "Lils, come on, it'll be fun!"

She turned her face away from him. "No James, I don't want to." Sensing she wanted to change the subject from exactly why she didn't want to go, he asked,

"When did I change from Potter to James?"

"When I decided you might not be as big-headed as I previously thought," She replied after a few moments of hesitation. James smiled slightly, and she continued with, "But now I might be rethinking it." Deciding to ask what had been bugging him since Lily had returned a week or so ago.

"Hey Fl- Lils, what made you come home?"

"No, Potter."

"No? And I thought I was James."

"No, I'm not going to tell you. It's my own business, not yours. I'm Head Girl, and if I can handle everyone else's problems I can handle my own." James raised an eyebrow.

"So it's a problem?"

"No, no," Lily said quickly. "No problem." He looked at her suspiciously, but decided not to comment on it. James shrugged and motioned outside.

"Are you coming? We can chuck snowballs at Sniv- Snape, if he shows up. And McGonagall and Dumbledore are down there, too." Seeing that wouldn't change her mind, he remarked, "And we really need your help with the fort. Sirius knocked most of it over when he got snow down his shirt." Glancing at her face, he saw a small smile hovering on her lips. James grinned.

"And then he went skipping off with Minnie and Dumbledore, and went to teacher her how to make and throw a snowball. So we'll need a fourth person, once Minnie is through with Sirius. And Peter isn't very good at making snowballs, and I can still remember that snowball fight in 5th year when one of your snowballs put me in the hospital wing." Lily snorted, and James grinned again in delight. "And you're so much better than me and Remus are-"

"Remus and I."

"Right. You're so much better than Remus and I are- it doesn't sound right, Lils- at charms." Knowing this would make Lily come, for she could never turn anyone down once they declared her better than them at something, he said, "Stay here and think over it. I'll be right back." He then proceeded to get up, and ran into Lily's room.

"Hey!" She yelled, "Don't go in there. Potter!" James laughed as he heard her running after him, and opened the closet. Pulling out one of the black robes, he threw it at Lily and moved on to her trunk. He pulled out a pair of muggle sweatpants and a sweatshirt with 'Oxford' blazoned on it, and threw those to Lily as well before digging in the bottom of her trunk for gloves, a scarf, and a hat. Re-emerging triumphant, he glanced at Lily, who was glaring at him.

"Potter, why did you feel the need to go through my things?"

"I was getting your snow clothes! Put those on, and meet me in the common room. Don't make me force you to change. You're coming outside, whether you like it or not."

"And you're not forcing me to get dressed now?" She asked.

"Hey, I asked you first." Lily stuck her tongue out at him, past memories forgotten, and James started laughing again and fell on the bed. Lily muttered something about stupid men and went into the bathroom, emerging later with the clothes on. She shook her head at the still laughing James, and pulled on the mittens and hat, wrapping the scarf around her neck. James rose after she kicked him in the shins, and they both went into the common room.

After James located his wand under his multiple layers of clothing, and Lily had retrieved hers from the coffee table, they both cast heating charms on their clothing to keep them warm outside, and left via the portrait hole. James was quite surprised when Lily, instead of going through the hallways, pushed aside the painting across the hall and walked into the secret passage. She turned when she no longer heard James following her, and asked,

"You really thought I ran to the Great Hall when I was late for breakfast? Sheesh!" James grinned ruefully, and followed in her footsteps. As they walked outside, Lily gasped as she finally saw the snow without being behind glass.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" James murmured quietly. But when Lily turned to look at him, she noticed that he wasn't looking at the snow, but at her. She turned her head quickly away, and said,

"Yeah, the snow is beautiful. Where are we going?" The sharp question seemed to shake James out of his reverie, and he motioned towards the far side of the lake.

"The boys are over that-a-way. So are the professors, and the rest of the school who stayed for the holidays." He looked at Lily when he said this, but she seemed not to notice.

"All the way over there?"

James shook his head. "No Lils, we're going right here. Of course we're going all the way over there! That's where all the snowball fights Hogwarts has ever had have been!"

"What about the snowball fight three weeks ago on the front path?"

"That doesn't count!" James yelled defensively. He then started running. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

"James!" Lily shrieked. "You're too fast!" He laughed wickedly, and put on an extra burst of speed. However, when he no longer noticed Lily panting next to him, he spun around. Jogging back to her, he grinned ruefully.

"Sorry about that, Flower." She glared, but then a soft smile graced her lips.

"Well, I was thinking that if that stag came over here, I could ask him if he could carry me to the snowball fight." James paused for a second before looking at his surroundings.

"Well, no luck for you, delicate Lily. He's no where in sight."

"Yes he is," Lily insisted. "Right there." She said, pointing at James.

"Behind me?" He asked. She glared at him again, and rose, marching forward until she was looking James in the eyes.

"No," She said forcefully. "Right there." She said again, and tapped his chest. He panicked for a second, and then said,

"I don't know what you're talking about, Lils. Really, no clue." Lily sighed.

"James," She said patiently, "I had a clear view of the bush from the window seat." He sighed and closed his eyes, hoping this would just be a dream, when Lily started to laugh.

"What? What's so funny?" James asked after he opened his eyes.

"The look on your face," Lily replied, almost gasping for breath in the cold air. "You looked like you were going to die." More seriously, she added, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"Lils-"

"Mid 6th year."

"Excuse me?"

"I've known since mid-6th year." She said quietly. "Took me awhile to figure out where you three went when Remus went to transform." James sighed. Yet another thing she knew about.

"How-"

"Did you honestly I wouldn't guess? We were prefects together, and I guessed by the times he told me he wouldn't be able to go patrolling. Of course," She amended, "He did tell me what happened, after I confronted him." James sighed again. It seemed that Lily knew everything about him and the Marauders, more than he would probably ever know about her. But then an idea hit his mind.

"Lily, now that you've well, figured out about me… you tell me a secret." Of course, James wasn't counting on the fact that Lily might have more of a secret than what had happened over the holidays. She bit her lip, and then said,

"All right." James rubbed his hands together, prepared to either get a story of what happened over the holidays or her declaration of undying love for him, and was shocked when Lily disappeared.

"Lils? Flower? Where did you go? Yeowch!" He exclaimed, and looked down to see a small red fox. "Lils?" The fox seemed to have an exasperated look on its face, and backed up a few steps before transforming back into Lily Evans. James stood there, completely poleaxed. "But- but- You're terrible at transfiguration!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Not anymore. I'm second in the class, James. I could be first, but I figure since I'm so much better at all the other classes, you might have one that you can at least have first in, although you don't deserve it." James just stood there, still shocked. "James?" She hit him across the face gently, and that seemed to bring him back to his senses.

"You're- You're an animagus?"

"Yes James. I couldn't let you be that much better than me. I finally got it at the end of last year." Smiling slightly, she murmured, "Used it to sneak out of Mary's house and go in the woods. Now, if you want me to get over to the snowball fight, you might want to transform and carry me." James looked at her.

"Why don't you just transform and run over there yourself."

"Because you made me come out here. Now hurry up, my feet hurt." James muttered under his breath before performing an illusion charm and transforming. He nudged Lily's head with his own, and knelt down on his forelegs so Lily could climb up, which she did. James quickly rose, and after making sure Lily was still on him took off towards the sounds of Hogwarts students.

Emerging out of the woods, still shaking his head, James was surprised to find McGonagall helping Sirius rebuild the wall of the snow hut. Lily, walking behind him, was surprised as well.

"Is Professor McGonagall helping Sirius build that?" James nodded, and motioned for Lily to follow him quietly. Going around the back, he blasted a small hole in the snow, and pulled Lily in after him. Prodding Remus on the shoulder, he murmured,

"I've got her," before turning back to Lily. "Now, Lils, we need your help in strengthening the walls of this beauteous fortress, and charming the snowballs to go after Snivellus and the other Slytherins." Lily sighed.

"Can you make a snowman?" James blanched.

"Why?"

"Because," She explained patiently, as if she were explaining to a young child, or a young Hogwarten as Sirius would have called them, "Then I'll charm the snowman to help Sirius and Professor McGonagall build the wall and I can charm the snowballs." James grinned, said quietly to Remus,

"She's joined the dark side!", and got to work.

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_Like it? Love it? Dislike it? GO review! Hit that little button there. Tell me what you think. Perdy please!_

_Disclaimer: Whoops, forgot this at the top. None of this belongs to me, except for the plot. And Carmen Brown xD All belongs to JK Rowling. Adios._


	3. Tears and Snowball Fights

_Heya! Yet another chapter here… enjoy! And review after you're done reading, pretty please!_

_Disclaimer: I own like, none of this. Exempting the plot. And Sirius' lines. I might own him too. Oh, and Gred and Forge. But they're not in this fic. Oh well._

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Lily laughed as she threw a snowball in James' face. However, her laughter was soon cut off as he charged her and picked her up.

"James, put me down!" She shrieked. Now it was his turn to laugh as she pounded her fists on his back.

"So you want me to put you down?" He asked.

"Yes!"

"If you say so," He replied with a grin as he dropped her into a snowdrift.

"Potter!" Lily yelled, and James fell down on top of her.

"You called?" He asked, his face only inches from hers. Sirius jumping and landing on both of them ruined the moment, however.

"Jim-bob and Flower, what are you two doing? We need your help with the south wall!" He gestured to the enormous red and gold castle that had formed under the guidance of Lily and her charmed snowman, and to the now collapsing south wall. "The Slytherins started to knock it over," He said angrily, pointing to the bright green tower across the field.

"I would help, Sirius," Lily said patiently, as if explaining to a small child, "But I seem to be stuck here."

"Oi! James, get off of the lady!" James groaned, and tried to hold himself off of Lily by pushing himself up, but only failed miserably.

"Why don't you get off of me first, and then I'll move," He muttered.

"Lil' ol' me?" Sirius said bashfully, "I can't way more than a twig."

"How about a tree branch?" Lily replied. Sirius grinned as he leaned over James' shoulder, kissing Lily before rolling off of them.

"Padfoot!" James roared, and started to chase after Sirius, but fell flat on his face. Rolling onto his back, he looked at the seemingly innocent Lily. "Nice, Evans. Nice. Please don't tell me you enjoyed that." Lily started laughing, and picked up another handful of snow, ignoring a lingering feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Now then, Mr. Potter," She said threateningly as James got up slowly. "Prepare to meet your doom." Lily threw the snowball at his face, but he ducked and it sailed over his head.

"Now then, Miss Evans," He replied mockingly, "That was a terrible throw. Missed me by a mile." Turning to see what, or whom, it had hit, James finally understood the look of shock on Lily's face. "Er... why, hullo Minnie!"

Professor McGonagall used the sleeve of her robes to carefully wipe off her face and her spectacles.

"I'm so sorry, Professor!" Lily exclaimed. "I was throwing it at Po- James, and-"

"I can see that, Miss Evans," McGonagall replied calmly. She crouched down and then lobbed a snowball at Lily's face, before tossing one back at Sirius, who had taken time during McGonagall being distracted to try and find a hiding spot. Teaching Minnie the art of being a teenager, as he put it, had proven a whole lot easier than he had first thought, and at the moment he was starting to wish he never had gotten the idea in the first place. "And don't think I've forgotten about the detentions, Mr. Black!" She said loudly as she chased after him.

Sirius yelped before running as fast as he could. "Darnit, Minnie, I was hoping you'd forgotten!" He shouted back as he dodged another snowball.

James chuckled before glancing at Lily, who was standing still.

"Did- Did Professor McGonagall just throw a snowball at me?" James nodded slowly, and laughed outright at the look on her face before wiping said shocked face clean with the sleeve of his robes, which were already quite wet. This just succeeded in making the mess on Lily's face worse, and would hold testimony to the fact that because of the snow's presence James did not realize the tears on her cheeks until after several minutes.

"Lils?" He asked hesitantly. "It was just a snowball. I mean, Minnie throwing it at you would have to be a shock, but you don't have to cry about it-" He broke off as Lily sniffed loudly and rubbed her face with her somewhat dry sleeve.

"Hah James," She said cheerfully, but he could still see tears in her eyes, "I fooled you!" Deciding to play along with her game, he swore and tackled her.

"This is what you get for trying to fool me!" James shouted, and started to tickle her mercilessly.

"Potter, stop!" Lily shrieked, and James smiled slightly. Although it didn't seem like Lily had forgotten what was troubling her, she had put it aside for the moment and was having fun. Rolling back on top of her, he looked into her eyes. This time, the moment was not ruined by Sirius, but by the fact that Lily was still crying silently.

"Flower, what's the matter?" He asked, and put his hands on the snow on either side of her head to hold himself up.

"Nothing's wrong," She insisted. "Now, if you would-" Here she broke off to push James off of her, and rose shakily. "I just want to go back to the dorm now." As James rose to follow her, he distinctly heard her mutter, "Why am I so bloody emotional about this? I shouldn't be. I can handle my own problems-"

"Lily, you can always tell me." She shook her head and kept walking, but James put his hand on her shoulder, effectively stopping her. "Lily, come on. What's bothering you."

She looked up at him briefly, before lowering her gaze to the snow covered ground. "I'll tell you what's bothering me, Potter. You are. Would you stop? It's none of your business."

"What if I want to make it my business?" He asked.

"I would have to tell you to stuff it. Now, I am heading up to the dorms. And again, I don't want you to disturb me." James sighed, but kept following her.

"Tell me what's wrong, Evans. Did I do something? Did Sirius do something? Does this have to do with schoolwork? Head's duties? Does this have to do with the holiday's-" He broke off as Lily let out a sob. He walked closer to her, and then turned her around. "Lily, you can always tell me." She shook her head, but when James enveloped her in his arms she put her head on his shoulder and cried. James raised his hand and stroked her hair timidly as Lily let out her emotions. After she seemed to calm down, her sobs dying down, she said quietly,

"I want to go to the dorms now. And mention this to anyone, and I will hex you to infinity and beyond." James smiled inwardly. At least this was the old Lily he knew how to deal with.

"As you wish, my fair lady," He said as he bowed. Offering his arm, he grinned with surprise as Lily took it, and led her back to their dorms.

As he quietly said the password and the portrait to the Head's Dorms opened, Lily pushed past him and started to open her door. Seeming to think about it, she turned back around and strode to where James was standing, still in front of the entrance.

"Thanks, James," Lily said softly. "You're doing the best you can. I just need to be alone now." James nodded, surprised that she had thanked him, but was even more surprised when she, after a small inwardly debate, stood on tip-toe and kissed his cheek. With a small half-smile in his direction, she turned and disappeared into her room.

James smiled as he heard Lily lock her door, and resisted the oh so tempting urge to run around, shouting something along the lines of, "She kissed me of her own free will! Momentous occasion! Something to tell the children!" However, kissing him on the cheek wouldn't spark the same amount of attention as a full snog, so he decided to keep his mouth shut. He turned and walked through the portrait hole, fully intending to go back outside and tell the Marauders what happened, but stopped dead in his tracks.

"I can't go outside," He said quietly, "I have to help Lily." Looking ruefully over his shoulder in the direction of the locked door, he sighed. Forgetting the fact that she had said numerous times she wanted no help, he started to pace the hallway. After earning himself a few stares from passerby, he decided that the best place to think would be his old dormitory in the Gryffindor tower, where he had thought up all of his past pranks.

That was where Remus found him two hours later, with a deep mark in the carpet depicting his path.

"Oi, Prongs!" He shouted, but James appeared to be muttering to himself.

"Flower… holidays… upset… went to see parents…"

"James?" Remus asked hesitantly, and James seemed to snap out of his trance.

"Hey Moony," James asked while trying to locate his cloak, "Where would past copies of the Prophet be?"

"Well, the library for starters-" James made a face, but walked out of the dorm and towards, Remus presumed, the library, conveniently forgetting the fact that he had a life-long ban from the library since fourth year.

"Really, Madam Pince," James whined, "I promise I won't cause any trouble. I need to look at the newspapers!" Noticing that his voice had risen a few notches, he lowered it. "You remember Miss Evans, don't you, Madam?"

Madam Pince smiled. "Ah yes, Lily Evans. Delightful young girl. Never comes in here and disrupts anyone else." She looked pointedly at James.

"And I'm really sorry about that, ma'am. You see, that day I had gotten very upset because some of the Slytherins called someone a very nasty name, and I felt the need to hex them! I didn't mean for it to happen in the library!" Madam Pince sighed. James was putting on the puppy dog eyes for all he was worth and although his look was not as perfected as Sirius' was, it still did damage.

"What did you need, Mr. Potter?" He grinned.

"You see, I was hoping to get the chance to look at some back copies of the Daily Prophet. It's an… assignment that I've brought upon myself. The Head Girl suggested it, ma'am." Madam Pince sighed again.

"Back shelf, you can sit at the second table to the front. But if I hear one noise out of you, or out of any of your friends-"

"I understand perfectly. And might I say, the spectacles look very nice on you. They go well with your skin tone."

James sighed as he placed the eighth copy of the Daily Prophet on the table. Reaching for the ninth, he almost brushed past it, for it was the Christmas Day edition. Sure enough, on the front cover was the entire staff of the Prophet, wearing what looked to be Santa hats and dancing while holding cups of Butterbeer and Firewhiskey. However, once the idea hit his mind that Lily's problem had to do with her family, he wanted to rule out the major and easily checkable suspicions. Opening the edition, he thumbed through the pages carelessly, knowing that any muggle news would have been near the end, before the quidditch section.

As he turned a page advertising Parker's Pensieves ("Photos are great, but a pensieve lasts forever!"), he noticed Sirius hovering at his elbow.

"Prongs?" Sirius whispered, carefully keeping an eye on Madam Pince, who was glaring at him. "Why are you in the library?"

"Research," James replied, still looking through the paper.

The look on Sirius' face suggested that the word pained him. "Research?" He repeated. "Why would you have to do bloody research?" James put his hand over Sirius' mouth to quiet him, and met Madam Pince's eyes apologetically.

"Eww!" He yelped quietly, and wiped his hand on the shoulder of Sirius' robes. "You licked my hand!"

Sirius shrugged. "I needed to talk. The need to hear my own voice is too great." Noticing James' look, he continued, saying, "Plus, my fan club is right over in that direction-" He broke off to wave at them, "And you were making me look very undignified. Now, if I could talk again?" James nodded seriously. "Good. Well, I was wondering if we could get out of the library now. I bet Pince has trained the books to attack." James just immersed himself in the newspaper again, flipping past another advertisement, this time for Quality Quidditch Supplies. "Woah, back it up there, mate," Sirius said somewhat loudly, and turned the page back over.

"Hmm, the Nimbus 500… fastest one so far, Jim-bob. Now then, which Hogwarten should I ask to buy it for me?" James just shook his head furiously.

"Sirius, I'm researching. You do know what that is, right?"

Sirius looked shocked that James would make such an accusation. "Of course I know what that means! I'm smarter than everyone thinks! I can count without using my fingers and toes!" James just shook his head sadly.

"Well, I need to research this alone. Could you go-" However, he stopped as he flipped into the muggle news section of the paper, and leaned over until his nose was almost touching the parchment. Sirius leaned over as well, but instead of looking intently at the words on the page, he looked at James.

"Prongs, why are you looking at muggle news? Quidditch section is right here, and-"

"Bloody hell, Sirius!" James said loudly, then covered his mouth. Looking over at Madam Pince, he started babbling something along the lines of, "I'm sorry, he provoked me, don't throw me out!" when Sirius poked his side.

"James-"

"Not now, Sirius!" He hissed, and went back to apologizing to Madam Pince.

"No, really, James-"

"What Sirius?"

"Isn't that Flower's house?" He pointed at the picture taking up most of the page, depicting a team of Aurors rushing around the remains of a quaint little house. James completely forgot about Madam Pince, and brought the picture up to his nose, trying to get a closer view. Sirius shook his head and placed the paper back on the desk, performing a quick charm before gesturing for James to look again. James nodded his thanks, for the picture was now much bigger and he could see the detail. He was hoping it wasn't Lily's house, but his hopes were dashed as he saw the small P.E. and L.E. embedded in the walkway. James hung his head, and then read the article.

**_More Muggle Attacks Prompt Ministry to Take Action_**

_by Rita Skeeter, Junior Reporter_

_Amidst the burning rubble of this poor muggle's home lies the hopes and dreams of a family, crushed by the arms of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. As more frequent and vicious muggle attacks occur, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has this to say,_

"_The threat to our kind is not great. We are all easily protected, and even a magical child could defend itself against this quote on quote 'Dark Lord'. We will defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and we will be able to go back to our normal lives. We will be sending protection to aid the muggles, but we must think of our own kind first if these attacks were to escalate, which they will not."_

_This junior reporter expresses the idea that Mr. Fudge is completely right in every aspect, and will continue to do a brilliant job as Minister of Magic._

_The names of these muggles were not released. Connections have informed us at the Prophet that there were surviving members of the family, but one does not know whether they were a part of the attack. If you have any information regarding this event, or past attacks, please do not hesitate to owl us at the Daily Prophet immediately._

Banging his head on the desk, he only resulted in Madam Pince grabbing him by his ear and pulling him out of his seat.

"I warned you, Mr. Potter. Any shenanigans and you would be out of my library. Now do not come back. Ever."

"Madam Pince," He began, but was cut off by her glare. "Er… do you think I could have a copy of that edition?" She looked over her shoulder at Sirius, who was currently personifying the idea that puppy dog eyes do get you what you want, and sighed.

"I suppose so. But don't come in here again!"

James and Sirius fled the corridor, and walked towards Gryffindor tower.

"Well," Sirius said after a few minutes of silence, "Do you want to talk to her, or should I?" James shook his head, and then replied,

"Lily wants to deal with this on her own. I think she needs to deal with it on her own. You remember when we er… crashed that party she was having in fourth year?" Sirius smiled as he remembered.

"Ah yes, the summer bash."

"Well, I hung around after you left-"

"So that's why I got lost!" James shook his head, chuckled, and then continued.

"Anyway, I hung around after you left, and heard Lily's sister Tuna-face say that Lily was a freak and it was all Lily's fault the party was ruined."

"Well, that's hardly true. I did bring dungbombs." James sighed.

"Yes, I know Sirius, it was your fault. What I'm trying to say is that Lily might think it's her fault. And right now, nothing we say will help her. Plus, I don't want her throwing anything at me or hexing me."

Sirius nodded sagely. "Wise choice, wise choice."

"So we'll do everything we can to cheer her up. And don't tell Moony or Wormtail. No one except us knows. So, Operation Cheer up Flower is a go?"

"Perfect. Although I think it needs a different name. How about Operation Use Sirius' wity genius and mad skills to cheer up the person who should be in love with Prongs who is Padfoot's best friend?"

"No Sirius."

"Hey, I tried."

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_Aight, okay, so now that I've hit the 3rd chapter, maybe I should do some reviewer responses. Yup xD Oh, and I'm going on vacation for Memorial Day weekend, so don't expect a chapter after this one for at least a week. I have vacation, then my final exam spanish oral presentation (MY teacher is evil) and my art final project along with exams… but luckily only like, a week left of school. It doesn't feel like it though. For instance, I'm sitting here wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants, cause it's freezing. It should be warmer out x.x_

_Anyway, responses!_

**Ghausia**: Heh xD Poor Sirius. He gets a few good (happy) lines though.

**Yellowcard-1991**: Wow, thanks. I'm updating as soon as I can xD Now, if you could just convince my english teacher that I'm a good writer… I've had B's the entire year, and my mum is getting angry. Well, she should be angry, considering she's a college english teacher herself.

REally, having an English Teacher for a parent is so not fun. Long car rides are spent reviewing vocabulary. And having debates about whether or not Shakespeare wrote his plays. Oh, and then whole "I'll just let my English teacher parent read over my essay!" Yeah, no fun. She reads my essays, tells me that they're carp, and makes me re-write it. I even did an experiment, though. I wrote one essay the morning it was due. Like, an hour before school, I started it. Another paper I started 4 days beforehand, had my mom go over it, and then revised it. The paper I wrote the morning of I got an A, the paper she revised I got a B. And they were both short stories. But enough about me complaining, back to the responses xD

**grinningangel**: Okay, so it WAS going to be only two chapters. And then I realized my chapters would be uberly long and I didn't want to deal with that. Plus I know my dear friends have short attention spans –dodges thrown stapler-

**FanFictionFantom**: Glad to hear you like it xD Your name keeps reminding me about Phantom of the Opera. My friend is so obsessed with that… I pretend to play piano whenever I hear it xD Found this really cool rock version of the opening, complete with electric guitar… well, I'll stop babbling xD

**Blue mariposa:** I love L/J's too xD I dunno, reading stuff like Hr/R and H/Gin just doesn't cut it. I guess cause the series is still being written, and I want to see what JK Rowling writes. Of course, I'll read it. I'll read anything, really. I just prefer L/J's, heh xD

**Tuttleh:** PNG Yay you reviewed! And Yay, it's in character. I was having a problem with that, heh xD

**Ashey (Peppy):** Yesh you should have signed as Ashey. Do I call you anything else? xP Yay, glad to hear you liked it. And I'm glad I made Sirius not seem stupid. Although I think a few of the lines I'm giving him soon are stuff I've said, so he might turn out more stupid than originally planned x.x OH well xD

So after you've finished reading this, review tons, so when I come back from vacation I can be like "Aw, I have reviews! Now I'll go do my spanish final project." And if you think it's terrible, tell me what to fix. I've written most of this starting at around 7 PM ish, taking a break for dinner. And for dessert. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite! -yawns and falls asleep-


	4. Is it love? and goldfish

_Authors Note: Okay, I'm sooooooo sorry about the delay. 1st, I went on a cruise and didn't get to finish before today. 2nd, my dad is being stoopid, and I've only gotten a real chance to be on the computer today._

_Just want to let everyone know that I'll be taking awhile to update everything, cause my dad is trying to take away everything like the internet and PS2. Plus I've got no money for the summer cause he won't give me any… so now I'm looking for a job. Heh._

_  
Disclaimer: JKR owns everything except the plot. Well, and Ash, Cai, Carmen, Stephanie, the fish, Mary, 'Mo… some of those characters don't even appear in this chapter… okay, so if you see someone that you know was made up, it's my own thinking.  
_

_Read, and Review please! It'll make my day so much nicer if I can sneak onto the computer after my dad yelling at me and find some nice reviews xD_

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During James' "Research":

Lily sighed as she pulled her pillow over her head. _Why did I just do that?_ She thought.

_Because you like him_, a voice replied in her head.

"No I don't!" Lily muttered out loud.

_Oh, of course you're right._ After a pause, the voice continued, saying, Oh wait, w_e both forgot. You don't like him, you love him._

Lily started to hit her head on the mattress.

"No, I do not."

_Yes you do._

"No."

_Yes.  
_  
"No. I. Do. Not."

_Fine, have it your way_, the voice said. After a few minutes, it contradicted itself. _You love him._

Lily let out an inaudible scream. "NO I DO NOT!"

_You do_, the voice patiently insisted. _You just haven't realized it yet._

"I hate him!" Lily murmured into her pillow.

_Then why have you called him James? Why haven't you yelled at him? Why did you-_

"You know perfectly well why. And it's not because I love him. No, it's not. And I don't want to hear it anymore. I'm going to sleep."

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Lily woke the next morning much more tired than when she had gone to sleep. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she thought back to last night, when her mind had plagued her with dreams of James. Rolling over, she fell out of bed, and started to mutter incoherently under her breath. Her door flew open, and someone chuckled. Lily slowly lifted her head out of her blankets, and glared at James and Sirius.

"The glare isn't so scary in the morning," James said innocently, and Sirius nodded. "Maybe I should come up here to see you more often this early." In a more serious manner, he added, "Are you all right?" Lily looked into his hazel eyes, and had the vague suspicion that he knew what happened. But she quashed that suspicion, and just nodded before stumbling to the bathroom. When she exited, she was surprised to see James offering a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

"I sent Sirius down to the kitchens for breakfast. You slept through it."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "And if I missed breakfast, why am I getting dressed? I could just stay in my pajamas, and stay in the common room all day."

James shook his head. "Nah, we're going out."

Lily glared at him. "James, I thought we've been through this enough. I'm not going out with you."

He rolled his eyes. "I know _that_ already. No you, me, Sirius, and Remus are going." She looked at him cautiously.

"Where, pray tell, are we going?"

"Hogsmeade."

"But it's not-"

"I know that, Lils. Just put the clothes on." She narrowed her eyes, but then remembered the reason why she was being so nice to James. Or at least, the reason her brain was giving. Her heart seemed to think differently on the matter.

"Would you leave?"

"Only if you promise to change."

She sighed. "Why else would I be asking you to leave? I'm not changing in front of you." He grinned wolfishly, and Lily pushed him out of the room before changing out of the sweatpants and sweatshirt she was wearing from the day before.

_What is this world coming to?_ Lily thought. _I'm wearing clothes James picked out, I'm hanging out with James, I'm not yelling at him, I kissed him on the cheek, hugged him, and not to mention called him James. And I don't like him,_ she stubbornly told herself.

But the thought '_you love him…_ ' kept trickling through her musings.

"No I do not!" She said loudly, and then put her hand over her mouth. She heard James chuckle, and ask jokingly,

"What are ya doing, Flower? Denying your undying love for me?" She grimaced at the fact that James was more correct than he thought.

"Stop calling me that abominable nickname, James." Lily said, trying to turn the subject away from the second half of James' question. "Or should I call you Prongs? I can understand why, but really, it sounds like you're a fork."

"It's tines of a fork, not prongs," James retorted. "But whatever you say, Flower."

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"Where are we going?" Remus asked quietly, for all four of them were under the invisibility cloak.

"Hogsmeade," James replied.

"With Lily?" Remus asked, after looking apologetically at the girl in question.

"Why else would she be with us?" Sirius stated. "She didn't like any of the food I brought her for breakfast, and I want a butterbeer."

"Well, it's not my fault you brought me candy!" The red head retorted. "And for your information, Remus, James forced me to come. And stop breathing down my neck, James!" He just grinned.

"Sorry, it's a smidge too cramped in here. At least I'm not stepping on your heels," He continued, turning to glare at Sirius.

"Sorry Jim-bob."

Remus just shook his head, and pulled out his wand to use an engorgement charm to make the cloak bigger, but James caught his eye and shook his head slightly. He then proceeded to trip Lily and caught her before she fell flat on her face. He kept his hand on her waist, however, and Remus was surprised when Lily merely glanced at it and carefully wiggled out of James' grasp, rather than yell at him.

They continued through the hallway quietly, but stopped when James realized that he had lost his shoe due to Sirius stepping on the back of it. Grumbling, they traveled back the way they came. The shoe was lying in the shadows next to the Transfiguration classroom, and James reached out to get it with his free hand.

"All right, Potter," A gruff voice said. "Get out of the cloak. You too, Black." Both James and Sirius cringed, for the voice sounded awfully like one of the tattletale Ravenclaws. And since Lily was there, they couldn't have Remus cast a memory charm. "So this is how you two get around the school," The voice continued. "Now, come out of the cloak, and bring it with you. We're going to Dumbledore." Now the voice, to Sirius at least, sounded like it was trying not to laugh.

He grinned, finally recognizing who it was, but decided to let James and Lily sweat it out, for Sirius bet that Remus recognized the voice as well. Sure enough, Remus was grinning wickedly, and motioned for Sirius to help him pull the cloak off. As the four were uncovered, they laughed at the guilty look on Lily's face, and the shocked look on James'. Lily opened her eyes to see a very familiar and quite unexpected girl looking at her.

"Now Miss Evans," Ashton Fitch, a seventh year Gryffindor, said cheekily. "What are you doing gallivanting with these boys-" At the glare she received from Sirius, she reconciled, saying, "Oh, I forgot, you decided you were men two weeks ago. So?" Lily glared at her.

"Ash, you scared me!" She then turned her glare on Sirius and Remus, who were grinning sheepishly. "You…" She threatened, but had to laugh as Sirius dove behind Ash, and cowered behind her.

Ash shook her head sadly, but had to smile when Sirius hugged her leg and muttered,

"Protect me from the big bad Tiger Lily!"

"Off Sirius, off!" She said jokingly, and Sirius complied quickly as she conjured up a water bottle to squirt him, still edging cautiously around Lily. The girl in question grinned mischievously at Ash, and asked sweetly,

"So, Ash, how did you know it was us?"

She shrugged. "Well, it's James' cloak. And his shoe. Plus, I heard you two leave with Remus from the common room." The corner of Lily's mouth twitched.

"And Sirius?"

"Yes?" Sirius questioned.

"I was directing that towards Ash," Lily told him.

"Ah, of course. Carry on."

"So, Ash…" Lily continued, silently referring to the fact that Ash had something similar to James' Lily-dar, but for Sirius.

"James never goes anywhere without Sirius, so I figured he was there." She covered. James and Remus both grinned, and James raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, sure you weren't looking for a quick snog?" He asked cheerfully, and then grinned again as Ash blushed. Sirius shot them a glare, but Lily didn't notice for she was trying not to break out into laughter. James and Sirius' eyes met, and they both rolled their eyes before pulling the cloak around the five of them, pulling on James' shoe, and heading towards the statue of the one-eyed witch.

"Hey, wait!" Ash said quickly.

"What?" Sirius asked, "You don't want to come to Hogsmeade?"

"Of course I want to go," She said cheerfully, "I just wanted to make sure that was where we were off to. You can never tell with you boys." She dodged a swipe by Sirius, and switched positions with Lily, so Lily was now sandwiched between Sirius and James, who was currently trying his best to not trod on Lily's heels.

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Lily smiled and laughed along with the rest of them in their trip through the tunnel and towards Hogsmeade, but her heart wasn't in it. Laughing at a particularly lewd joke Sirius told, she was surprised to find James looking at her curiously, as if he knew her laugh was forced. Breaking eye contact first, she hurried to walk next to Remus.

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Upon entering the Three Broomsticks, they were set upon by a cheerful looking blonde.

"Hullo boys," She said, and the three Marauders grinned.

" 'Lo Rosie," They chorused, and then the woman bustled them off.

"Oy, Rosie!" Sirius shouted, "We need a bigger table!"

The woman eyed Sirius critically. "Don't tell me, Mr. Black. All those forays to eat at this fine establishment have caused you to gain weight." Sirius, to put it mildly, looked shocked.

"Rosie, how could you say such a thing?" He wailed. "Why, am I starting to look fat? I told you, Remy, I told you I shouldn't have eaten that fifteenth chocolate frog!" Remus patted his friend's shoulder while rolling his eyes, and James snorted before turning to face Rosie.

"Now, Rosie, you know how delicate he is about that subject. We just brought two others with us." She finally looked to the doorway, where the two girls were standing, and broke into a grin as Ash moved into the light.

"Why Ash, long time no see. How have you been?"

"Absolutely spiffing, great presents and what not. I see Uncle Moe got you a job at the tavern," She casually remarked. Rosie grinned.

"But of course. What with the arthritis and all, he didn't want to keep bussing tables. So I'm stuck with it, but I'm hiring on for the summer. Free Butterbeer, to a point, if you get hired. Want a job?" Ash just grinned, and pulled Rosie into a hug. She then caught a glimpse of red-hair on the person next to her. Extracting herself from Ash's grip, she turned to face James and looked at him curiously before grinning again.

"Always knew you'd get her," Rosie said cheerfully, and James had the good graces to blush.

"Ah, Rosie, I… we're not… you know," He finished lamely, and Rosie shrugged before turning back to Lily.

"Rosmerta?" Lily asked, and Rosie nodded before hugging the girl.

"Haven't seen you in forever, Lily. We have to get together some time. I can tell you some tips on keeping these boys in line." The Marauders, to put it mildly, looked a smidge shocked at the fact that Lily and Rosmerta were conversing quite normally. Lily eyed the stares before saying quietly,

"She was my tutor for Transfiguration in 5th year." She turned her look on James, and he grinned slightly before slinging his arm around Lily's shoulders.

"Well, shall we eat?" He asked, and Lily smiled gratefully.

"Sounds like a brilliant idea-" She started, but broke off as Sirius asked curiously,

"Oy, Rosie, is Margot here?" Rosmerta shook her head, and told him,

"Nah, she'd doing work for Professor Dumbledore. Dad told me to take over here for her, so Uncle would still get some help from the family." Sirius face fell slightly, but he just told Rosmerta,

"Could you tell her I said hi?" She nodded, trying not to laugh, and led them to a now bigger table in the back.

"Here you go, guys. And girls," She added, smiling at Lily and Ash. "Now, what'll it be?"

The boys grinned. "How about…" James started, "Three glasses of Firewhiskey,"

"Three butterbeers!" Sirius put in.

"Three shots," Remus added.

"And some champagne for the ladies," James finished.  
Rosie smiled. "Ah, all right. Five butterbeers, coming up. I'll bring you the house special too, all right? You look hungry, Lils." Lily just smiled in turn and pointed at Sirius, who was looking through his pockets trying to find the last of the candy from Lily's "breakfast". Rosie laughed, and shook her head as she walked to the kitchen.

"Now, Ashey," Sirius asked, "How did you spend your pleasant vacation?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't call me Ashey, Sirius." He laughed.

"Whatever you say… Ashey. So, what did you do?" She shrugged.

"Nothing much. I hung out with my brother, and we practiced quidditch." Ash smiled. "I hit bludgers at him, and he tried to dodge them."

Sirius shook his head. "Ashey, dear, you really should never have quit the team. All that unresolved anger-" He broke off with a yelp as she hit him on the back of the head. "Really, girl, that's what I'm talking about!" He nudged her with his elbow, and then proceeded to poke her repeatedly, earning himself a few well-aimed punches.

A few minutes later Lily exclaimed, "Sirius, Ash, will you two stop flirting?" This earned a few snickers from Remus and James, giggles from Lily, and resulted in Ash and Sirius both blushing. The two moved away from each other at the same time, and then fell out of the booth they were sitting in. Standing up swiftly, they glared at each other, and then sat back on the bench of the booth, as far from each other as they could get.

"So…" Sirius started hesitantly, "Er… Look! Food!" The other four turned to look towards the kitchens, but Rosie hadn't emerged yet.

"Sirius…" Remus said slowly, "Don't torment us." Sirius began babbling something along the lines of fan clubs and broomsticks, when James slammed his fist down on the table.

"Sirius," He said calmly. "Refrain from mentioning it. I think Ash is going into convulsions." Sirius looked next to him, and realized it was true. Ash was twitching at each mention of the club, but when she realized Sirius was looking at her strangely she looked up at him and put a smile on her face.

"So, Sirius, I haven't been here in awhile. I see Rosie got a jukebox!" Sirius grinned.

"My wonderful persuasive arguments," He said, but Rosie interrupted him.

"More like I got tired of him complaining about listening to 'girly' music. Now, who's hungry?" She motioned towards the tray next to her with her wand, and the plates fell haphazardly into their places in front of each student. Rosie winced. "Sorry about that, the plates don't like to go flying." They just laughed, and Rosie joined in before settling herself back behind the bar.

After scarfing down his food, Sirius looked at Ash, who was almost done with hers. She grinned, fork halfway to her mouth, and asked,

"So, Mr. Black, do you know how to dance?" He grinned back, and truthfully admitted,

"Not exactly…" Her eyes lit up, and she threw her fork down on the table before grabbing his hand and dragging him over to the jukebox.

Remus rolled his eyes, and James chuckled. "Well, I'm off to talk to Rosie," He said, leaving James with Lily, who was still politely eating.

This time James rolled his eyes. "You know, Flower," He noticed the slight intake of breath as he called her that, "You don't have to eat perfectly like that. I mean, we won't tell anyone that Perfect Head Girl ate sloppily." Lily cocked an eyebrow.

"James, you're eating the same exact way as I am." He looked down at his plate, to realize that he was, in fact, eating quite perfectly.

"Well, I guess you're rubbing off on me," He said jokingly, and went back to eating. However, this time he ate too fast, and let out a big burp.

"James!" Lily exclaimed, shocked.

"Sorry Lils," He said quietly, and settled back into the booth. After a few moments, he seemed to realize something, and turned to Lily. "Hey Lils, can I ask you a question?"

She turned to him. "James, I won't answer anything about how my holiday's went." He shrugged.

"Nah, that wasn't it. Just why are you calling me James?"  
Lily seemed confused. "James… James is your name. What else would I call you?"

"Well, what you've been calling me since 2nd year, and up until a few days ago." At her questioning glance, he continued, saying, "Potter. You've always called me Potter. Why now?"

Lily's mind raced back to Christmas holiday's, 5th year.

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"_Really, Lily," Her mother said quietly as she wiped the dishes clean, "You're always complaining about that boy. James Potter. Why won't you just go out with him? He seems like a nice boy."_

"_Potter is a git," Lily replied, seething with anger. "He charmed my hair to stand up straight! He keeps asking me out, and I refuse every time, but he doesn't seem to get the hint. And-"_

"_And he says he loves you, but you don't believe him. I know the entire story, dear. But it sounds like he really does like you, if not love you. Just give him a chance."  
Lily glared at her mother. "You do know that every other mother on the planet would be telling me to never give him a chance. You sound like one of my friends."_

_Margaret Evans nodded cheerfully. "Yes, I do understand that. But I really think you should give him a chance. And I'm not like other mothers. You know you can tell me anything." Lily rolled her eyes._

"_You know, sometimes I just want a real mother rather than a friend. If I want someone who will tell me I should give Potter a chance, I should just go back to school and listen to Mary, Ash, Cai, and Stephanie. You remember them, right mum?" She nodded, and went back to wiping the dishes with the rag. _

"_If it makes you feel any better, Lils, I don't know what he's like on a day-to-day basis. But I agree with your friends, you should give him a chance." Noticing Lily's narrowed eyes, she hurried on, saying, "Well, dear, why don't you send an owl to your friends and invite them over. And I'm sure Mrs. Brown knows where Cai is." Lily sighed._

"_Of course, mother. When should they come?" But an irate Nathaniel Evans, who stormed through the kitchen door, shouting, interrupted their conversation._

"_Lily Marie Evans, what did your friends do to Petunia this time?" Lily rolled her eyes, and rubbed the lily on her necklace between her fingers._

"_Dad, they aren't my friends. I have no control over what Sirius Black does on his own accord. But I bet Tuna deserved it," She added quietly._

"_LILY!" Her father roared, and grabbed her by the arm to drag her into the family room, where Petunia was standing, crying. At Lily's entrance, Petunia raised her head, and after a wink at Lily she burst out into tears again._

_Lily sighed. Yet again, Petunia was trying to get Lily in trouble. "Dad-"_

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Lily's daydream was cut off as James waved his hand in front of her face.

"Lils? What's wrong? You seem to be drifting off a lot." She looked him in the eyes, and he shrugged. "All right, so don't answer my questions." He settled back against the booth, not expecting to hear Lily speak again, and instead stared out onto the room, where Sirius was currently stepping on Ash's feet.

"Because my mother asked me to," She said quietly, so quietly that James almost didn't hear her. His face immediately softened in sympathy before he realized he wasn't supposed to know about her parents, and then nodded.

"Oh, so I see. So none of my changing has had anything to do with it?" He replied cockily. Instead of scolding him, Lily just laughed softly, and murmured,

"It might have something to do with it." James smiled, and then they both turned back to watching Sirius and Ash.

After a few moments, James turned back to watch Lily. She was bobbing her head in time to the music, and drummed her fingertips against the tabletop. His hand suddenly twitched, but he placed his other hand on top of it to resist the urge to smooth her hair back behind her ear. She giggled softly, and James looked out to see what amused her. Ash was trying to avoid Sirius stepping on her, and Sirius was trying his hardest to step on her. However, turning back to Lily, he noticed a small tear in the corner of her emerald eye.

"Flower, what's wrong?" He asked, raising his hand to brush the tear away. Lily looked quite shocked, and asked,

"What? Why do you ask?"

"You're crying," He said softly.

"No, no I'm not," She said stubbornly. "Allergies. I have dust in my eye. Pesky little dust spots." He shook his head, and was about to keep questioning her when Sirius stumbled over to them and fell on the table, with Ash and Remus soon following him.

"Jimmy!" Sirius shouted excitedly as he grabbed a butterbeer and chugged it, "Rosie says there's a carnival! We have to go!" He reached for James' hand, and tried to drag him out of his seat.

"Sirius!" James muttered, "Take Remus!"

Sirius shook his head. "Nuh uh, you're coming too. Along with Remy. And Ashey, and Tiger Lily. I want you to win me a stuffed animal!" James allowed himself to be dragged off, but not before grabbing Lily's hand, forcing her to come with him. Remus just shook his head before placing some money on the table and following them all, for Ash had already gone out the door.

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"Oh look, Jim-bob!" Sirius shouted excitedly as he skipped ahead of his friends towards the carnival, "Games!" James rolled his eyes.

"Yes Sirius, we know that a carnival has games. We all-" However, he broke off as Sirius came to a standstill in front of a certain booth. James groaned as soon as he saw the sign.

"Jim-bob!" Sirius exclaimed, even more excited than he had been a few minutes prior. "Goldfish!"

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Walking through the tunnel to Hogsmeade, Sirius was taking extreme measures to insure the safety of his goldfish. Therefore, he was trying to cajole Lily into performing a charm to keep them alive. She rolled her eyes.

"No, Black, I won't do that. Those goldfish will die anyway. They have to be taken care of, something you won't do." Catching James' glance, she softened her tone and said quietly, "Sorry Sirius, but it's the truth. You're probably going to forget about them by tomorrow. And either way, Professor McGonagall won't let you keep them." Sirius sighed, but then brightened.

"Of course Minnie will let me keep them. And if she says no, Dumble-bumble will let me. And I can't believe that you think I would forget about my fish! Now, they need names." After pondering for a few minutes, he suddenly started twirling around and pointing at the fish in the bag. "I shall call you George. And You Swahili. Billy Bob. Neal. Margot. Fred. Nemo. Raoul. Harry. Fo-"

"Sirius, man," Remus cut in, "You only have three fish." Sirius peered at the bag intently.

"So you're right, my old man Remy." Remus rolled his eyes. "Now, I shall call ye Fred, George, and Fork."

"Fork?" Lily asked quizzically.

"Are you questioning my choice in names, Lily Flower? How could you!" After a few moments of glaring at Lily, he asked sweetly, "So, Lily flower, about that charm for the fish…"

Everyone collectively groaned, and continued walking down the hallway.

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**FanFictionFantom:**Heh, my friend is completely obsessed with Phantom... therefore, so am I xD When we went on this cruise there were these stairs like in a certain scene in PotO (Masquerade) and she was obsessing over them... it was pretty funny xD

**blue mariposa: **Lol, it's not really summer yet... I only have 3 more finals left, though xD

**Ashey:** Lol, here's the next chapter. And I'm sorry that I made you two wait for it. Lol. And sweet, I have an illustrator -grins-

_Oh yeah, okay, so if anyone wants to see drawings done from the fanfic, go to_ **http/ superblonde2889 . deviantart. com** _without all the spaces... there's some stuff there xD Basically just some stupid character drawings... heh xD_

_Okay, so it's really long. Forgive meh! xD And sorry for taking so long to write it. I couldn't find a good place to stop it x.x_

_Now please review! Pretty please with sugar and whipped cream on top!_


	5. The forgetful one, and confrontations

_Disclaimer: Well…. not mine? Well, Ashey, Cai, Steph, and the goldfish are my characters… besides that? Nah. JKR's._

_-------------------------------------------------_

James smiled as he looked at the picture in his hands. The picture James grinned back at him, and then went back to persuading Lily to do something. Real James guessed either what happened over the holidays, or to go out with him. However, picture Lily did not yell at him, or curse him into the starry skies, but only shake her head slightly and smile.

Real James sighed. It had taken four years, and at least she wasn't cursing him. Give him another four, and maybe she would go out with him. Another four, and maybe she'd kiss him- Oh wait, she already did that, even if she did only kiss him on the cheek. James smiled, and went back to looking at the picture that had been taken while they were at the carnival, right after Sirius had won the goldfish. Picture Sirius was shoving the bag of fish into Ash's face, and Ash was trying to hide behind Remus, who was in turn trying to cower behind James. However, Picture Sirius just ambled over to the four before jumping up and down in front of them. Picture James and Lily just blinked at him before taking a few steps to the other side of the picture, where James continued asking Lily whatever he was asking. And the process repeated itself.

"Wotcher doing, Prongs?" Sirius asked.

James almost fell out of his seat. "Padfoot, don't do that!"

"Don't do what?" A third voice chimed in, and James groaned.

"What, is everyone waking up early today? You two should be taking your time to sleep in. There's only a few days left of vacation, and-" He broke off as Sirius suddenly turned and fled to the dorm. James turned to Lily, and asked, "Where's he going?"

She shrugged. "Probably to feed those goldfish. At least they've lasted three days. I think it's a record for goldfish all over the world," She added mournfully. James chuckled at the look on her face, and then looked up the stairs.

"Is Ash awake yet?" Lily shook her head, and James grinned.

"Oy, Black!" He yelled, and Sirius stumbled back down the stairs with a box of fish food in his hand.

"What Jim-bob… I was feeding the fish, and-"

"Ash isn't awake yet," James said, trying not to laugh. Sirius' eyes lit up.

"Why didn't you tell me in the first place?" And with that question, Sirius flew around the corner to the stairs.

"How does he get up there?" Lily asked. Seeing James' grin, she answered her own question. "Ah, his animagus form. What is it again?"

"A dog," James replied, grinning, but then hit his forehead and turned to Lily. "Flower- Lils, don't tell anyone I just told you that. Don't tell anyone anything about what you know. We all promised each other we wouldn't tell _anyone_, not even our girlfriends… the guys would kill me if they knew that you know." Lily rolled her eyes.

"James, I'm not your girlfriend," She told him gently, and he smacked his forehead again.

"I knew there was something wrong with my logic," He said jokingly. In a more serious tone, he added, "Will you go out with me?" He was a bit shocked when Lily just shook her head no instead of cursing him into oblivion. Very conscious of this fact, James got up and started doing a victory dance.

"Er, James?" Lily asked hesitantly, "I said no. You do realize that, right?" James nodded, but kept dancing.

"Yes," He told her, "I know that. But you said 'no' _kindly_. It's a big improvement. I think you're warming up to the Potter Charm," He added with a grin. Lily just shook her head and laughed.

"You never change, do you?" She said with a slight tone of laughter in her voice.

He seemed to think for a second, then bowed over her hand, brushing it gently with his lips. "Why no, Madam, I do believe I changed for you." With his head down, he missed Lily's blush, which she was very glad he didn't see. She cleared her throat after a moment, and James raised his head. "Yes, Flower?"

She coughed nervously into her hand before giggling softly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but… friends." He cocked his head slightly to the right.

"Friends?"

She sighed. "Yes. Friends." When he didn't seem to catch her drift, she added, "James, I'll be friends with you." He smiled, and then enveloped her in a hug, which Lily was quite angry to find took her breath away, and made her heart pound louder. Shaking her head, she tried to think of anything except the fact that James was hugging her, and she was enjoying it.

_Aha_, Lily thought, and carefully pulled out her wand from her pocket before muttering an incantation.

"What did ya say, Flower?" James asked, taking his head from Lily's shoulder, where he had rested it.

She smiled. "Oh, I was just saying, I don't know what I got myself into." He laughed, but the sound of the Fat Lady banging open and shrieking at someone interrupted their conversation. Lily snickered as James got up; the words '_Kick Me!_' were flashing in different colors on his back, mostly keeping between maroon and gold. She followed him to the portrait, still laughing, and as the Fat Lady came into view she saw a tall blonde fervently apologizing to the now hysterical Lady.

"I'm really, really, really sorry," She said, "And I know you've told me at least a hundred times-"

"At least a thousand," The Fat Lady interrupted.

"Right…" She said slowly. "But yes, I know you've told me at least a thousand times to watch where I was going, but in my defense my arms were full, and-" She broke off as a scream was heard in the vicinity of the girl's dormitory. Turning towards Lily and James, she cocked an eyebrow and said, "Let me guess. Ash." James nodded, but before he could speak they heard Ash yell,

"SIRIUS BLACK GET BACK HERE!" Pounding feet proceeded the arrival of Sirius, and as he ran away from Ash he yelled,

"Oh, hullo Cai! Jolly seeing you here. Could you, er- Well, move!" She just stood there with her hands on her hips.

"Now, now, now Sirius, what did you do this time?" He stopped running, and grinned.

"Cold water on her face." Cai shook her head.

"Really, Sirius, and you call yourself the Prankster Prince. That prank is so old, my- Well, it's old." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I'm not only the Prankster Prince. I am the King of Kings. The God of Gryffindor. The Apple of Minnie's eye. The Keeper of the Carp. The-" He broke off as he caught everyone looking around the room. "What?"

"Sirius, why was the room echoing what you were saying?" Cai asked.

He shrugged. "Oh, handy little spell I learned. I figured it makes me seem oh so important. Now, if you'd move-" However, he was too late, for Ash came around the corner and crashed into him.

"_Sirius Black I'm going to kill you!" _She shrieked, and Sirius started running in circles again..

"Save me!" He yelled, and then ran behind Lily. "Go Lily, go! Attack!" Lily just shook her head, and pointed Ash in the direction of Cai.

"Guess who finally showed up," She said cheerfully, and Ash grinned.

"Cai! Finally! Now you can help me get Sirius!" Cai grinned back, but the trunk at her feet, the broomstick in her hands, and the bags on her arms hampered her movement. Finally remembering them, she yelled to the boys,

"Oi! Lads! Help me carry this stuff up!" Lily rolled her eyes and muttered _Wingardium Leviosa_, accompanied by a swish and flick of her wand, and the bags as well as the trunk started to float up the stairs towards the dormitory, although Cai kept a hold on her broomstick. "Oops," She said sheepishly. "Keep forgetting that one… it's a lot to get used to."

"Really, Cai," Lily said sternly, while trying to hide a smile, to Cai Brown, another 7th year Gryffindor. "You've gone to school here for what, seven years? You learned the spell in first year. As a matter of fact, I made you learn it when I told you Peter was going to get the charm faster than you were." Cai shrugged.

"All right, so the reason sounded better in my head… anyone hungry?" Sirius grinned, and offered his arm to Cai.

"Shall we?" She laughed, but before she could leave Ash suddenly grabbed Cai's arm and started dragging her towards their dorm, grabbing Lily's arm as well.

"No, no, no!" Ash said excitedly, "Come tell us about your holidays!" Cai grinned, but James asked,

"Why, didn't she just have Christmas dinner with her family, like she does every year?" Ash glared at him.

"No," She said patiently, "This time she went to Spain with her cousins. Her extremely cute cousins, who went to La Escuela de Los Artes Magicos, and-"

Cai shook her head. "I only stayed with them for a few days. I had to go back home to Abuela, because-" She suddenly broke off as she remembered something, and spun out of Ash's grip before turning to Lily.

"Lils, are you all right?"

"All right?" Lily asked nervously. "Why wouldn't I be fine? I mean, really, hanging out here with the Marauders and then only getting rescued by Ash a few days ago wasn't a picnic, but-"

Cai searched Lily's eyes intently, and Lily sighed as she remembered who Cai's grandmother was. After a few seconds, she asked quietly, "You didn't tell them?"

"Tell us what?" Ash piped up. Cai turned to look at the other three in the room. Ash had a look of slight confusion on her face, but Sirius and James seemed to know what Cai was talking about. She made a mental note to ask them about that later. Turning back to Lily, she just laughed shakily.

"Ah, just Tuna-face is getting married. Lily'll have to leave for dress fittings in a few weeks. My sympathies, dear. The dresses are hideous. I caught a glimpse of them when we were at the Purple Man- Vernon's house for… for the planning party."

"Planning party?" Sirius and Ash echoed.

"There's a such thing as a planning party?" Sirius asked. Cai nodded fervently as Lily sighed. Cai was never good at coming up with excuses.

"Now, Lils, could I talk to you for a second?" Lily nodded, but made no move to leave the vicinity of the other three. "Alone." Cai added forcefully, and Lily sighed before following her out of the portrait. Ash and Sirius made to follow them, but James stopped them.

"No, leave them alone for right now. Right, Sirius?" Catching Sirius' eye, James realized that Sirius had gotten the message when he pulled Ash back, and conjured up a towel.

"Here, Ashey, dry off. They're probably talking about wedding plans."

"Sure you two don't want to talk about wedding plans of your own?" James asked jokingly, referring to, as always, the snogging session that Sirius and Ash had had when they were in fifth year. Conveniently, they were both drunk, but it was still a snog.

"What, discussing wedding plans without Uncle Remy? Really, Sirius, Ash, I thought you two were better than that. Or do you two want to go off for some 'alone' time," Remus said as he came down the stairs, raising his eyebrows. He dodged the towel that Sirius threw at him, and managed to find his way to one of the sofas in the common room without being tackled by Ash. James laughed, and settled into the big squashy armchair. Luckily almost no one was in the tower because of Voldemort. All of their parents had wanted them home for the holidays. James sighed. He would have gone home, but with his father constantly being called out, and his mother completely worried, plus Lily staying at Hogwarts, it was a better idea to just stay. He sighed, and started listening to the conversation between Sirius, Ash, and Remus, where the latter was cajoling them into realizing their true feelings, and the two former were adamantly denying everything. James laughed. Around them, nothing got dull.

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"Now where was it," Cai muttered as she dragged Lily through the halls.

"Where's what?" Lily asked. Cai seemed to pay no attention, and immediately whirled around and dragged Lily in the opposite direction.

"I should have remembered, opposite side of the school…" She sped up until they practically ran across the school, and Lily was relieved when they eventually stopped at what appeared to be their destination. Lily glanced around her, but seeing nothing besides a moving tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and a few odds and ends, she asked Cai,

"Is this where we're going to talk? Because really, I could have just suggested going out on the grounds or something-" She broke off as Cai put her hands on Lily's shoulders and guided her to a spot next to the moving tapestry.

"Stay here," She commanded, and then set out to walking back and forth in front of the blank wall.

"Er… Cai?" Lily asked hesitantly, when as the second time Cai walked in front of her she could be heard muttering,

"Place to talk… quiet… silencing charm… comfy… food…" Lily gasped as Cai walked in front of the wall a third time, and a door appeared. Cai looked up and down the hallway and after only seeing a seething group of trolls learning how to dance, dragged Lily through the door.

Lily gasped softly as she looked around the room. A squashy set of arm chairs were placed in front of a roaring fire located in a fireplace, while on a table close to both chairs stacks of butterbeer bottles and all sorts of food were located. Cai gestured for her to sit in one of the chairs, and took a few bottles of butterbeer and a plate of cookies before settling herself in another chair. Lily smiled softly.

"Hungry, Cai?" She asked, and Cai rolled her eyes.

"What do you think? With two brothers, one of whom who decided to play for the Magpies, there's not much food to be had. Ever. Any chicken fingers over there?" Lily chuckled, and handed a plate of the food to Cai. After letting her stuff her face for a few minutes, Lily asked hesitantly,

"How did you find this place?"

Cai half-heartedly smiled. "Remember that time last year after the holidays, when mum sent all those letters trying to get me to go to that other school? And then she sent a Howler to Minnie-"

"I don't understand why you can't call her Professor McGonagall like everyone else." Cai shrugged.

"It's more fun. But anyway, I needed a place to cool off, because I was ready to send about a hundred howlers right back at her. And the boys came upon me trying to trash our dormitory-"

"Ah, so that's why when I came up all the books were all over the place and the window was broken…"

Cai chuckled. "I thought Remy had cleaned all that up. So they dragged me here- more like covering me with that cloak of theirs and throwing me over Sirius' shoulder, but what's the difference- and let me scream and throw stuff to my hearts content. Of course, they left after I decided James' head would make a good punching bag…" Here she got the wanted laugh from Lily, and then rolled right on talking. "So they told me how to get here by myself, and I've come back a few times whenever mum sends letters. Like those ones after exams last year, after I nearly failed the Potions final. Besides Snape lording it over me that I should have fun in Spain this year, I had letters from my mum telling me that I'll never pass the N.E.W.T.S., and that I'll never get a good job.

"Plus the whole quidditch thing… she's completely insane about that. Ever since I told her in third year that I wanted to play for the Cannons and whoop them into shape, she's been harping on me to buckle down and, in her words, 'Find a nice Catholic wizard who has no interest in quidditch, is preferably of Spanish descent, and wants to be Minister of Magic.' Now of course, Dad thinks the complete opposite. He built me a pitch in our backyard, and went and got me a new Cleansweep, and-"

Lily sighed. Luckily, the discussion she knew was coming was averted for the time being. She half-listened to Cai's conversation, nodding at the appropriate moments, when Cai smacked her forehead.

"You got me off track!" Lily nodded sheepishly, and Cai started muttering, "Now what was I going to talk about…"

After a few moments, with Cai pacing around the room before sitting back down in the chair, Lily sighed again and broke the ice.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about? Are the dresses really hideous? Because really, I-"

"No, Lils. Not about the dresses. Why didn't you tell them?" Cai interrupted.

"Tell them what?" Lily said, while twiddling her thumbs. Cai sighed.

"About your parents. They _died_ Lily, and you're just keeping it all inside?" Lily clutched the arms of the chair, but released her grip slowly and turned to face Cai.

"Please don't mention it."

"Why not? Are you trying to act as if it never happened? Because believe me, Lily, it happened. Your house is burned to the ground, your parents are dead. And if I'm not mistaken, you didn't get a chance to apologize," She put it bluntly. Cai sighed as she thought, _Well, I was never one for softening the blow…_

Lily glared at her. "I told you not to mention it!" She said angrily, but still in a quiet tone.

"Well what am I supposed to do? Follow along with your stupid plan? Really Lily, usually I'm the one on the end of the stupid plan ideas, but this one takes the cake."

"Would you stop talking about it!"

"Your parents being dead? No! I won't. You need to talk about it, Lils."

"No I don't," She replied stubbornly. "I am fine with it. You clearly have some issues with how I handle problems."

"How you handle problems?" Cai asked. "How you handle problems! If you haven't noticed, Lily, this isn't just a fight between two first years. Or even a fight between you and James. Your parents are dead."

Lily stood up and stormed away from her. "Stop talking about it!" She said furiously. She strode over to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Lily kicked the door in fury, and then glared at Cai. "Open the door."

Cai shook her head. "Lils, you need to talk about it. Abuela wanted to come and make sure you were all right, but I said that I would owl her."

"Well tell your grandmother to mind her own business!" As soon as those words left Lily's mouth, she instantly regretted them. "I'm sorry, Cai, it's just-"

"Oh no, I understand," Cai replied. "You're just being extremely stupid. You don't want anyone's help. Why, for the life of me, I could not tell you. You're just-"

"_It's my fault_." Lily interrupted. "It's all my fault. They died because of me." To say Cai looked shocked would have been an understatement.

"Lils, how could you say that?"

"How could I say it's my fault?" Lily replied angrily. "I'll tell you how. Because it _is_ my fault. They died because I'm a witch. Because I'm muggle-born. That idiot Voldemort killed them, Cai. Because of me." She almost whispered the last part, and Cai stood and then moved in front of Lily. Kneeling in front of her, she murmured,

"Lily, it's not your fault."

"Yes it is," She replied tearfully.

"Lily, it's no-"

"Would you stop telling me it's not my fault? It is. It's because I'm a wi- it's because I'm a _freak_." Cai seemed to get the gist of Lily's thinking.

"Petunia," She spat out. Lily blinked owlishly.

"What?"

"Petunia," Cai repeated. "That stupid sister of yours. I'll kill her! She's- you- your- Argh!" Cai stood and started pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. "You think that- You won't listen to anyone of us, your _friends_, your other _family_, yet you'll listen to that poor excuse of a sister!"

"No I don't," Lily replied, wiping her eyes. "I don't listen to her at all."

"Lils, you just called yourself a freak. Believe me, hun, she doesn't know what she's talking about. It's not your fault, and you are not a freak. Lils, would you just let it out?"

"No!" She roared. "I won't! Because I don't deserve any pity." Cai sighed.

"You're not going to listen to me, are you?" She asked hesitantly.

"It's my fault," Lily just repeated, over and over again. Cai sighed again, and settled back into the armchair.

"Lily-"

"Would you stop? _You_ don't know what you're talking about. Stop trying to convince me it's not my fault. It is."

"Fine, Evans. Be that way. I'm just trying to help. Oh, but let me just continue on the mind-set that I think you're following. Let's see. You're believing Petunia, and not believing me. Who you've known since you were born. Brilliant idea, not believing one of your best friends over the sister whose hated you since age 11. But still, you believe her. It was her fault you got in a fight with your parents, for Merlin's sake!

"And now let me guess. The only person who you will believe when they tell you it's not your fault will be darling Petunia. Because you've tolerated her calling you freak and saying that you were responsible for everything that went wrong in any part of your lives, and now you're agreeing with her. Well, Lily Marie Evans, that is some messed up thinking. Do you want to know why?"

Lily shook her head, and then went back over to the door, trying to open it.

"Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. Lily, she already had it. Them. Whatever you want to call it."

"Had what?" Lily spat out.

"The blasted funerals, Evans."

Lily looked shocked. "Wha- what are you talking about?" She spluttered. " 'Tuna- 'Tunia would wait for me. She wouldn't-"

"Well she did, Lils. The funerals were two days ago." Lily shook her head.

"No."

"Lily, why won't you believe me?" Lily just tried the door again. "Lily, listen to me, please."

"No!" Lily shouted, but stopped trying the door and sank to the ground. _Petunia wouldn't have help the funeral… she couldn't have blamed me for this… she couldn't have…_ She trailed off on her thoughts as Cai crouched next to her.

"Lily, she did. Abuela didn't get invited, but she showed up anyway. Almost cursed Tuna face into oblivion. It was pretty sweet, actually. I would've done something, but she took my wand before I could. I…" She trailed off as a tear slipped down Lily's cheek, followed by multitudes of others. "Lils-"

She broke off as Lily, with a yell, punched the doorway. "Ow…" She muttered, and clutched her fist, which was bleeding slightly.

"Lils, you need to go to-"

"No!" Lily shouted, and stood up, trying the door one last time. Cai sighed, before muttered _Alohamora_, and watched as Lily fled the room in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room.

Lily got halfway to the common room before she realized where she was headed. She sighed, and started to turn back to go to the Head's room, but then felt that she should go to the Gryffindor Common Room. Wiping her eyes, she walked to the portrait with a much slower pace than before.

Muttering "Blibbering Humdinger," to the Fat Lady, she quickly walked through the portrait and into the common room. She came upon Ash chasing Sirius around, shouting something to the extent of,

"Sirius Black, get that scrawny ass back here now!"

To which Sirius replied, "However, you think this ass," He pointed to the end in question, "Is quite hot and rather good looking." However, that must not have been the best reply, for Ash just screamed in fury and kept chasing Sirius. Noticing Lily's scared look, Remus murmured,

"Sirius found her diary… started reading bits out loud. He's at third year now."

Lily smiled slightly. "Just wait till he gets to fifth year. Every other sentence is either, 'I hate Sirius Black so much!', or 'Sirius Black is an-'" She broke off as Cai slammed the portrait open, and then quickly came over to Lily.

"Lils, I'm really sorry. But you had to know. And you have to change your opinion about it, because-"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Lily yelled at her. Sirius and Ash stopped their chasing, and James and Remus looked a bit shocked. It was the first time that anyone had yelled at the blonde that way- if you didn't count the time Lily yelled at her for not studying, and Cai replied that Lily should get off her high horse and play some quidditch. Or the time that Cai casually remarked that Lily should just drag James into a broom closet and get it over with already. Or the time… all right, so there was quite a few times that Lily had yelled at Cai that way. But no one else had. And that is the point.

"Lils-" Remus started, but Lily whorled around to face him.

"Remus, stay out of it!" She said forcefully, and that was when it hit James that Lily had been crying.

"Flower," He said softly, standing up from his perch on the windowsill, which was out of range of Sirius and Ash, "Why were you crying?"

This time Lily turned on him. "Would you all stop!" She yelled. "It's my business, and I don't need some- some big headed prat sticking his nose into my business!" James just stared at her, not wavering, before asking calmly,

"Are you done?" Lily sniffled, and then nodded slightly. James just shook his head before opening his arms and enveloping Lily in a hug. She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder, feeling oddly safe and protected. However, during this she missed the gasp that escaped Cai, as well as the stares of Remus, Ash, and Sirius. He led her over to the armchair where he sat down, and then dragged her into his lap. Lily just put her head back on his shoulder, and slowly the other four found spots around the room.

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About half an hour later, during which Sirius and Ash had resumed their chasing and Cai was staring moodily at the fireplace, with Remus trying to cajole her into talking, or better yet studying, a brunette of average height ambled into the common room. Taken aback by the sight of Lily sitting in James' lap, all she could think to say was,

"I hope you six realize that the train just arrived, and everyone will be coming up soon. They just all went to the feast. And- well, bloody Merlin's beard, I'm never going on vacation again! What did I miss this time?"

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_Well, hope you all liked it. It was quite hard to write this chapter… yeah, that's about all the excuses I have. Sorry it took awhile, it's just that I had finals and crap, and then yelling by the parents… oh, and my dad works from home mostly, so he takes the computer a lot._

_But anyway, hope you enjoy. Now go and review, please! xD Even if you just leave a "Hey, I read this story. look forward to more!" It would be appreciated xD_

**Tuts:** Lol xD Yeah, the goldfish ARE Totally awesome. I think I have to kill them off soon, though. Goldfish never live this long xD Granted, it has been like, three days... oh well xD

**Ashey:** Make your darn account already! xP

**FanFictionFantom:** Yeah, Sirius was totally awesome.. -sighs- I really really hope taht in Book 6 JKR puts in a whole lot more flashback scenes... I want more younger, joking, funny Sirius! xD

**Blue mariposa:** Lol, yeah, I love summer xD And the Swahili thing is a joke between me and some of my friends... for some reason we started calling this guy Swahili as a code name, and every time we say it we say it in this really odd deep voice... it's pretty funny, actually xD

_Oh, and if you're looking for a great laugh, go read_ **Hand in Hand**_ by _Procrastinator-starting2moro. _Hillarious piece, really xD_


	6. Sirius Black's Storytime

_Well, I think we now have all the characters introduced… -ponders- Well, just about. There's a few more (-cough cough-, Gilderpoleon xP) but they'll come in later. Lets just say I've introduced MY characters, that I own. Lol xD Well, I think I've introduced all of them._

_And for all of you who like Peter, I'm sorry that he sorta disappeared… Remy almost disappeared too… but I put him back in the story. Peter will come back soon. Heh xD_

_Disclaimer: Uh… I don't own this? Heh. Simple as that. Except I own mai characters. Ashey, Carmen, Cai, The oh so mysterious brunette (Lol xD), the goldfish, the dates, and… well, that's about it. I don't count that other elusive roomate. Maybe I'll delete her completely. _

_Naaah…. can't do that. Oh well. So… read, and then review!_

_Okay, so read and review!_

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"So, what did I miss?" The girl asked impatiently. Sirius stopped in front of her and grinned, sticking his arm out to prevent the shorter Ash from tackling him and punching him to death.

"Ah, Stephanie!" He crowed. "You're just in time for more of Sirius' stories!" Ash paled.

"No, Sirius, stop!" Ash implored him, but he ignored her, and proceeded to open the diary to a random section.

"April 15th, 1976. Ooh, fifth year," Sirius nearly squealed. He cleared his throat, and then continued loudly, "

'_Dearest Diary, He was looking especially fine when he stepped off the pitch today. We both played a great game against Ravenclaw. Sirius saved my life when he dodged in front of me to take a bludger hit I didn't notice. He looks terrific sitting in front of the Common Room fireplace, staring out the window…" _Sirius trailed off and blushed slightly. Squinting at the page, he read it a few more times before looking disbelievingly at Ash.

"Damn, girl," He said, still holding her back. "I know everyone likes me, but you want to do that to me?" Ash turned maroon, and tripled her efforts to get her diary back. However, she was still restrained by Sirius' hand against her forehead, and he just gaily kept talking.

"So, Stephanie, you've missed… uh…" He looked around the room, and decided to go by what happened to each person. "Well, Remy… Remy did nothing. Sat around and actually did his homework, silly little bugger. Cai is having a staring contest with the fireplace, and she is playing a no talking contest. Personally, I think she'll loose, since she can't-"

"Sirius, would you shut up!"

"See!" He said cheekily. "Couldn't stop talking for a minute. But anyway, Lily and Jim-bob are friends, Remy did nothing, Cai can't stop talking, Ash is scaring me, and is now trying to kill me, and… well, we lost Peter about three days ago. This happens sometimes," He added almost apologetically. "And… I got goldfish!" Sirius started bouncing up and down, which resulted in Ash falling to the ground.

"Goldfish?" Stephanie asked quizzically. Everyone groaned as Sirius launched into a long explanation of his goldfish.

"…And Lily said they would only live for three days," He finished, "But they're still alive, and it's been five days so far!" Stephanie nodded nervously, and out of the side of her mouth she asked Remus,

"Is there any more to this story?" He nodded slightly, and she groaned. "Damn. Well, Sirius," She said carefully, "I'm sure that the goldfish are quite all right. You've probably been doing an excellent job taking care of them, watching them, and feeding them-" She broke off as Sirius cursed loudly and fled to his dorm "What was that?"

Remus laughed. "The bloke probably forgot to feed them. Either that, or he's doing that Potions essay that's due Monday. Which do you think?" Everyone chuckled, and went back to what they were doing. Which was exactly what they had been doing for the past half-hour, exempting the fact that Stephanie took a seat in the armchair that Sirius had vacated during his 'story-time'. She glanced over at Lily and James every few moments, until Lily finally asked,

"Steph, what's wrong?" The girl shrugged.

"Nothing, really. It's just… er… well, you and James."

Lily rolled her eyes. "James and I, what?" Stephanie grinned.

"Well, you seem to be getting quite close…" She raised her eyebrows, and both Remus and Cai caught on to her meaning. Ash, however, was still sitting on the ground, fuming and cursing Sirius to hell and beyond, only to change her mind a moment later and think up more (cough cough) things to do to him.

"Yeah Lils," Remus said loudly, "You and James here… people are going to talk." This time both Lily and James rolled their eyes, and was about to speak but the portrait opened. Lily shoved herself off of James' lap and took a seat on the floor, and everyone laughed again.

"So guys, what did I miss?" A blatantly ignorant Peter asked as he climbed through the portrait hole. "Whoa, James, you and… Lily… and…" He pointed to where James was now fiddling with Lily's hair, and Lily was only trying to ignore him, not hex him into oblivion. Everyone's head's turned, and at this point Cai realized what was on the back of James' robes, for he had shifted position until he was now kneeling on the chair, and could get a better look at the portrait hole. She caught Lily's eye and grinned; all former annoyance with the girl forgotten. As she motioned towards James with her hand, Lily seemed to get the message and winked.

"James," Lily asked softly, "Could you go get Ash's diary back from Sirius? You wouldn't want to see one of your best friends killed by another one of your friends, would you?"

"Nah, I wouldn't want that," He agreed. "I'll go up and get it. Give me a few minutes though. I'll probably have to hear more 'stories'. Anything I should want to avoid listening to, Ash?" She blushed.

"Er… all of fifth year and… well, the entire thing, mainly." James just shook his head and rose before ambling over to the staircase to the boy's dormitory. This resulted in the majority of the room (well, mainly Cai and Remus) standing and kicking James soundly in the rear.

"OW!" He yelped. "What in Merlin's name was that for?" Cai grinned, and Remus shrugged.

"The sign said to," They said at the same time, and looked at each other before chuckling weakly. Kicking him once again for good measure, Cai sat back down and Remus followed her.

"Lily!" James roared, and Lily just smiled before calmly asking James,

"Yes, Jim-bob?"

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Lily sighed before hitting her head on the Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall.

"Flower, what's wrong?" James asked from his seat next to her. Lily dully pointed to the timetable in front of her, and muttered,

"Double Potions, Divination, _and_ History of Magic. With Potions first." James winced, and then looked at his timetable.

"And I have the same. Did you plan this or something? I knew you couldn't resist the charm!"

"Er, James?" Lily said kindly, "We've had the same classes since first year."

He just grinned sheepishly. "I knew that…"

Sirius interrupted their conversation with his barking laugh.

"And so I asked Ernie, what do you say when a dog runs away?" Everyone around the table sighed, but collectively asked Sirius,

"What did he say, Sirius?" Sirius broke out into laughter before managing to croak out,

"Dog-gone!" The entire table just stared at him, until Ash began to laugh weakly.

"Brilliant, Sirius," She said loudly, and the rest of the table followed her example, cheering him on.

Sirius got up and bowed, and said, "I'll be here all night!" Cai groaned softly, but Sirius managed to hear her. "What?" He asked loudly, "You didn't like my joke?" She shook her head.

"Anything but. Sirius, it was pretty bad." He motioned towards the rest of the table.

"They didn't seem to think so!"

Cai rolled her eyes. "Sirius, they're only laughing cause they're afraid you'll prank them."

"No they're not… wait, Oy, you lot! Get back here and tell me if my jokes are funny!" He followed the rapidly disappearing group out of the Great Hall.

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Upon leaving the Divination Tower, Sirius, Cai, and Ash all yawned. Remus just raised an eyebrow.

"Going from one nap to the other?" He asked, and Sirius and Ash just nodded. Cai on the other hand glared at him, and hit his arm before nodding sheepishly. Remus just laughed, and led the three to History of Magic.

Lily and James hung back slightly as they watched Peter and Stephanie chase after them. Touching Lily's arm gently, signifying he wanted to speak with her, they ducked into an empty hallway and leaned against the wall.

"Yes, James?" Lily asked quietly. He looked her in the eye before saying calmly,

"You know, Lils, if you ever need to talk to someone, you can talk to me." She just raised an eyebrow.

"And what would I need to talk about, may I ask?" James' calm façade was broken.

"Damnit, Lily, you know what I mean. The holidays. What happened?"

"Nothing of consequence," She replied, and made as if to walk away. James however, had another idea, and grabbed her arm.

"No Lily, really. Tell me what happened." She glared at him.

"James, let go of me." He shook his head.

"No, not until you tell me what happened," He insisted. Lily looked him in the eye, and for a minute he thought she would tell him the truth, but she said quietly,

"It was just… Petunia was being annoying again. This time she was flaunting her engagement. They're getting married a few weeks after Easter." James tuned her out, and sighed inwardly. It seemed like Lily would never trust him enough. _But then again_, he mused, _She didn't tell Ash or Stephanie, and they've been best friends since first year. And Cai… I bet she only knows because of her grandmother. She and Lily were neighbors, after all_. He almost smiled, remembering the time that Mrs. Brown had provided them with a hideout from Petunia when they had flown over and pranked her, but then turned back to Lily's conversation, only to realize that she had stopped moments before and was looking at him oddly.

"And you're not even listening to what I say," She murmured without humor. "Why do you think I would go out with you if you won't listen to me when I speak?" James shook his head.

"No, Lily, it's just… I'm worried about you. Something else happened over holidays. And- well, you don't have to tell me now, if you don't want to." He said with a sigh. "Let's just get to class.

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"And in the fourteenth century, a time of many witch burnings, Wendolin the Weird was burned at the stake no less than 47 times in various disguises…" Professor Binns droned on. Stifling a yawn, Cai turned to Remus, who was sitting next to her.

"Remy?" She asked sleepily.

"Yes Cai?" He replied, cursing the fact that he had chosen to sit here. Cai was known for starting conversations in the middle of classes, and then 'borrowing' his notes to fill in the stuff she missed. In reality, Remus just duplicated his notes after each class, and kept Cai's notes in a folder in his nightstand: that way Cai could get the notes she needed, and Remus would still have his.

"Didn't we do this first year?" Remus looked over the notes he had written, and then nodded sullenly.

"Yeah, we did," He muttered, and wrote in big letters beneath his notes, 'SEE FIRST YEAR NOTES.' He looked over to Cai's 'notes', where she had written 'SEE REMY'S FIRST YEAR NOTES.' He just shook his head, and looked over at the rest of the gang.

Sirius and Ash were sitting together at a table, where they were playing a game of Exploding Snap. Not the best idea, for the deck would have to go boom eventually, but nevertheless they were enjoying their game. Peter and Stephanie sat at another table; Stephanie was pointedly ignoring Peter who had fallen asleep with his head on his textbook, a puddle of drool forming there. James and Lily were sitting at yet another table, and James was furtively sneaking glances at Lily, who was trying her best to ignore him.

Remus heard Cai sigh next to him, and glanced quickly at her paper. _Oh dear_, he thought, _she's drawing again. _Cai was very artistic… or at least, she thought she was. If you could make a living off of drawing stick figures with hair, she would do it. Of course, her art could never be sold to those poor muggles with no magical sense, for she used a simple charm to animate them.

"Now many advancements have been made recently in the breaking of curses laid down by the ancient Egyptians in their pyramids. For example, a hundred years ago in 1878 a Spanish scholar named Estuardo de los Osos discovered the lost tomb of…" Professor Binn's voice broke through Remus' thoughts. However, what was more noticeable was Cai poking his shoulder furtively, and pointing to the paper. Remus sighed and grabbed the paper, moving it over to in front of him so he could see it better.

'_Remy_,' He read, '_You know the charm. Personally, I think these ones could make me big bucks. Or at least support me if mum decides to send me to La Escuela de Buenos Artes. Really, what a stupid name. And their motto is even worse. Ago , perceptum , quod utor veneficus. Live, learn, and use magic. Quite stupid. I mean, ours has actual advice! Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus. Never tickle a sleeping dragon. You always need to know advice like that. Brilliant person, whoever it was who came up with that idea. And…' _He skim read the next few paragraphs on the page, which were basically complaining about her mother, her three cousins who decided it would be fun to prank her (although of course, she inserted here, they were much easier to take care of then Sirius. She did throw in a few names though… knowing a Potter apparently helped her case.), and how boring the class was.

_'…So, flip over the page and tell me what you think of the drawings!_

_- The fantastic blonde sitting next to you.'_

Here she had drawn a picture of herself waving at Remus. He sighed yet again, and turned the page. However, his look of annoyance changed to one of amusement. Tapping the first drawing, which was of Ash and Sirius, he muttered _Finite Incantateum _to counteract the second spell Cai had placed on her drawings, forbidding them to move. He then had to muffle his laughter as he saw a stick figure of Ash suddenly throw herself at Sirius, alternating between snogging him and beating him with her right fist. A tiny speech bubble appeared above her head, and words kept flashing through it… '_Sirius you ass… you bloody git…Never mind, I love you… you…' _Remus shook his head and muttered _Immobulus_ to freeze the image. He repeated both spells on the other two drawings on the paper: the result was a picture of Peter drooling so much that Cai built a boat out of the desks and old textbooks, and the entire class sailed away while Peter slept on. The other drawing was of Lily and James: James was looking so much at Lily that the poor girl finally hexed him so bad he was dancing around the room.

"What, I'm not in any drawing?" Remus murmured. Cai grinned, and took back the parchment for a few minutes before shoving it back at Remus. Tapping the parchment, he muttered _Finite Incantateum_ before bursting out into laughter. A stick-figure copy of himself (complete with short ponytail that Cai had convinced him to grow at the end of 5th year, when she needed to do something other than study and wanted to braid his hair), was dancing on the tabletops and handing a stick-figure drawing of Cai all of his notes for Potions and History of Magic. He could tell that those were the subjects, for the stacks of papers said so in bright pink lettering.

"Hey, my notes don't look like that!" He whispered. Cai just grinned again, and then yelled,

"Yes they do!" Because the class had ended, and everyone was putting their paper's away and heading for the door. Cai started to run, pushing people out of her way, and Remus cheerfully followed, knocking Sirius into Ash, who were both just outside the doorway, as he went.

"Oy, Rem! Watch where you're going!" Sirius yelled, and then turned to see if Ash was all right. "Hey, Ashey, you-" A slim hand tapped him on the shoulder, and Sirius helped Ash up before turning back around.

"Excuse me, Mr. Sirius," A somewhat short brunette asked. "Would you need help carrying your bag? Or your textbook? An escort to make sure no one runs into you? A shield for if someone hexes you? A-" She was silenced by Ash's glare, and Ash promptly started to drag Sirius away from the girl.

"Well, he doesn't need anyone to do that. So, goodbye." Ash said, somewhat annoyed, as she tried to drag both herself and Sirius out of the door. However, this was not proving to be as simple as she hoped, for the girl had latched onto Sirius' arm and was now yelling at Ash.

"Well I wasn't talking to you, was I? NO! So shut your mouth, and let me talk to the man! Now Sirius," She said sweetly, but was stopped by the man in question grinning sheepishly at her.

"Er, excuse me," He said somewhat quietly, "But who are you?" The girl gasped, and blushed slightly before enthusiastically shaking Sirius' hand.

"Alicia Smith," She announced. "Fifth year Gryffindor."

Sirius smiled slightly. "Ah, so that's why you looked familiar." Alicia squealed excitedly, but then composed herself.

"So," She asked casually, "Do you need me to carry your bag?" Sirius just shook his head before extracting his hand from her extremely strong grip.

"No, he doesn't need you to," Ash repeated, and tried to drag Sirius out of the room again. However, once again, the girl had latched herself onto him, her blue eyes sparkling dangerously.

"HE CAN TELL ME HIMSELF!" She shrieked, and at that point Sirius had had enough of her.

"Just take the bloody bag!" He shouted, putting his hand behind him in time for James to hand him his bag.

"Really!" Alicia nearly squealed, and Sirius just nodded before shoving the bag at her and hightailing it out of the room, quickly followed by Ash, Peter, Stephanie, James, and Lily.

"Sirius, why did you give her your bag?" Ash chided him. "You could have just left. I mean…" She trailed off as both Sirius and James burst out into laughter.

"Oh, here you go Sirius," James said thoughtfully as he handed Sirius his bag.

"Wha… didn't you give her the bag?" Ash asked, and Sirius and James just burst out into laughter again.

"Transfigured a piece of paper, M'dear," James said comically, tipping an imaginary hat before putting his arm through Sirius' and skipping off down the hallway.

"Oy, gits! Wait for me!" Ash shouted as she ran after them. "If you have Sirius' bag, then I want my deck of cards back! And my bloody diary!"

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"'_Dear Diary, Today was completely smashing. We had an altogether terrific practice, and afterwards we all agreed that we were going to win the cup. Why, you may ask? Because of the great beating Sirius is doing. Well, that's my reason. James of course (stupid git) insists that everyone's good teamwork, blah blah blah… who really needs that stuff? All you need is Sirius!_

…

_**OY!** The prat just came up here and stole my copy of Witch Weekly. I wonder why he- Oh crap. Was that the issue where I… damn. I'll be right back. "_

Sirius broke off from his reading to look at Ash, who was currently sitting dejectedly by the window.

"Was this when I stole that issue of **Witch Weekly **… where you wrote in asking why I wasn't on their list of the Top 10 Sexiest Men on the Quidditch Pitch?" Ash just responded by hitting her head on the window itself.

"Do you think if I hit my head on something hard enough, this will turn out to just be a dream?" She mused out loud, not directing the question to anyone in particular.

"Nope, sorry Ashey," Sirius said sympathetically. "Believe me, I've tried that. You don't know how many times. Well, okay, it wasn't that many times… just when I accidentally snogged that Slytherin. Or when-" He broke off as Ash let out a shriek and got up before stalking over to the portrait hole. She pushed open the portrait and walked out before Sirius asked, "Was it something I said?"

Both Cai and Remus groaned from their spots on the couch, where they were currently trying to balance a chess set on their knees.

"No Sirius," Remus said sarcastically, "It must just be the weather." Sirius nodded, as if he was considering this suggestion. It resulted in Stephanie standing up and hitting him across the back of the head.

"No, you prat, of course it was something you said! You're reading her bloody diary!" Sirius shrugged.

"She could read my diary, if she wanted to," He insisted. Remus and Peter, who had just woken up from yet another nap with his head on his History of Magic textbook, looked at him oddly.

"Sirius, you don't have a diary!" Peter reminded him.

Sirius shrugged before replying, "Well, it was a figure of speech."

Remus just shook his head before going back to the chess game. "Check," He announced, and Cai looked furtively for a way to get her King out of the position he was in.

A few minutes went by before Ash stormed back in. Grabbing her bag from it's spot on the floor, she spun about and made as if to leave again. Sirius thumbed through the diary before yelling across the common room,

"Ahh, here it was! December 12th, 1975I'm sure you remember that date, Ashey. Well, I'd just like to tell you I think you have a nice ass as well!" Ash turned a bright purple before fleeing, but not before the common room had erupted into laughter. Sirius looked somewhat pleased with himself, at least until Cai launched herself at him and started hitting him repeatedly.

"Oof!" Sirius yelled, somewhat muffled. "Remy, get your ass over here and help me!" Remus just shook his head.

"Nah, I learned my lesson last time I tried to pry her off of beating you. And when I tried to stop her hexing that Slytherin. It's just no use." Cai finally stopped hitting Sirius, but instead of apologizing to him, she turned to Remus.

"Oops, Rem, I'm sorry for upsetting our chess game. You were winning anyway."

Sirius looked indignant. "Apologizing to him? I was the one you beat up!" Cai rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but I had a reason to beat you. You just don't say stuff like that to the girl who- Well, your friends."

"Just take a look at this bruise!" Sirius continued, not listening to what Cai was saying. "I'll have to go and see Poppy so she can heal it, and she'll hate you for ruining my beauteous face!" This time Remus rolled his eyes, and helped both Cai and Sirius up.

"Sirius, stop talking like a prat. Cai, you have to work on your slap. The handprint's fading already."

Cai grinned, but then sobered quickly and turned to Sirius, who was nursing his nose.

"Oy, git, I didn't even hit your nose. Now, if you would be so kind as to actually pay attention to what I have to say, I won't have to slap you again."

"Come again?" Both Sirius and Remus asked, a bit confused at the speed at which Cai was talking.

"Oh," She said sheepishly, "I was talking too fast again, wasn't I?" The boys nodded, and Stephanie spoke.

"Yes, you were dear. Now, if you could refrain from it, I'm sure that the simple-minded boys here would be able to understand." Remus looked indignant, while Sirius and Peter just nodded.

"Yeah," Peter said, "Talk slower so I can understand." This made Stephanie laugh, and both Sirius and Peter for the life of them could not figure out why she found it so funny. At that moment, however, James stomped into the room and threw himself on the couch in a huff, squishing Sirius as he went.

"I can't, for the life of me, understand women," James announced, his voice somewhat muffled due to the fact he was currently holding a pillow to his face. Remus sighed.

"What happened this time, and what did you do to 'help'?" He asked James.

"Well, I just asked about holidays…" Remus noticed that Cai nearly twitched, but she quickly composed herself.

"Well, stop asking about the bloody stupid holidays then," Cai told James angrily. "Really. Holidays are overrated," She muttered, and James just sighed before getting up.

"Where are you going?" Stephanie asked, emerging from the book she had buried her head in after her last comment.

"To find Lily and apologize," James announced, and left the common room quickly. Stephanie just let out a huff before going back to her book, and the other four just shrugged before Cai went back to lecturing.

"Now, Sirius, let's inform you of a few things, since you seem to not be the brightest crayon in the box-"

"Ooh, crayons?" Sirius interrupted. "I have this really cool sparkly crayon, it's-"

"My point exactly. Now, let's start off with a few questions. Why do you think Ash writes about you in her diary?"

He thought about this for a second. "Because I'm so charming and she can't get me outta her mind?" Remus rolled his eyes.

"Any other reason?" Remus asked him, and Sirius shrugged.

"Nah, everyone thinks I'm charming. I bet everyone writes about me in their diaries." Cai punched his shoulder.

"Have you thought about any other reasons why she writes about you in her diary, and exactly why she seems so mortified that you, in front of the entire Gryffindor population, announced she has a nice ass?"

"Well, no. I mean, I assume she likes me, but everyone likes me, and I mean, she does have a nice ass!"

"Sirius, you do know what happens when you assume, right?" Remus put in. Sirius looked confused, until Cai shouted in his face,

"You make an ass out of you and me! Or in this case, you and Ash. But you don't go around telling people who lo- well, your friends, that they have a nice ass! They get all mortified and embarrassed and want to kill you!" Sirius still looked confused.

"But I think Remy has a nice ass, and I've told him and he's not mortified and embarrassed and wants to kill me…" He trailed off as Remus nearly fell off the sofa.

"Correction, Sirius," He said once he regained his seat, "I'm now scarred for life."

Cai sighed. This was going to take awhile.

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Lily paced back and forth in front of her bed in the Head's Dormitory. _Really,_ she thought, _It's all because I'm friends with Po- James, that he's asking what happened over the holiday's. And really, it's none of his business. A girl has a right to not tell some guy who she just became friends with a few days ago after he hexed her for nearly seven years a few secrets._ She sat down on her bed.

_Then why do I feel so bad about lying to him?_ She pondered. It wasn't as if she didn't feel bad about not telling Ash or Stephanie- No, it was quite the opposite. But she also felt terrible for not telling James… and Remus and Sirius, she had to add. Lily looked around her red, gold, and wood surroundings, and sighed. It was one thing to feel bad about not telling the girls, but about not telling the boys? _Ridiculous_, Lily told herself. _I don't feel bad. No. No way. I don't-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by it opening slightly. "Lily, are you in here?" She heard James call. Lily thought not to answer, but her traitorous mouth called out,

"Yes, I'm here, James. Come in." The man in question stuck his head in, and smiled as he met Lily's troubled eyes.

"Good," He said, and sat down next to her after walking in. "I just want to say-"

The corners of Lily's mouth turned upwards. "It's all right, James," She interrupted. "You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do have to. I'm sorry for bothering you about it, it's just… something happened, and it changed you. Now, besides the good fact that you're now my friend, it was a change for the worst. And I just want you to know that you can always tell me what's wrong. All right, Flower?"

Lily sighed and nodded. "Of course, James. I know that. Now, do you want to go to dinner? I'm starving."

James grinned. "You're starving? _I'm_ starving. Shall we?" He held out his arm after standing, and Lily just skipped ahead of him, giggling softly. "Oy, Lily, get back here! It's not safe for… for a wilting flower to walk alone in the hallways!" Lily shook her head and slowed down, waiting for him.

As he caught up to her he slid his arm through hers and started chattering gaily. Lily tried to pay attention to what he was saying, but her blasted mind kept telling her that she should tell him what happened over holidays… and the fact that her heart was telling her that it was adorable that he apologized wasn't helping matters, either.

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_All right… so, another chapter done. Review now, pretty please!_

_And for everyone who finished HBP.. well, I won't say anything because you lot who haven't finished it are probably like , "NOOO! DON'T SAY ANYTHING!"_

_But anyway… _**"Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my 'furry little problem' in company. Many people were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit."**

-chuckles-

_Aaaaanyway…_

_Oh yeah! For those of you who are like, cool, this story is great, and parts are funny… go click on _**tuttleturtle**_'s name and go and read _**A not so noble quest**… it's hilarious xD And there'll be another story you guys should read…but I don't think it's up yet xD

**Blue mariposa:** I know, poor poor Lils… well, I'll have a more in depth introduction of Stephanie next chapter. It didn't seem right to fit it in here.

Plus I got lazy and didn't have the energy to check my email for the description. Or sign on to AIM to get poked by Tuttleh.

**trillian225: **Thanks! Yeah, I just realized it might seem a bit confusing to people who… well, aren't me xD I tried to put more "Sirius said," blah blah blah stuff in this chapter. Tell me if it worked… if it didn't, or if I went overboard, blame it on the fact that… well, it's extremely hot here and I'm dying of humid-ness and the fact that I'm rehearsing almost every day… well, that has no relevance. Yeah, just tell me if it worked, didn't work, or I went overboard xD

**Messr. Moony (A.k.a. Tuttle):** Brilliant! Leave a better review, dear xP –pokes- And how is your 'furry little problem?' xP

**Ashey:** Hey, where's the next page? xP I wanna make another card tower!

And yeah, Tuna's ebil x.x I don't even like Tuna. The fish, I mean. But yeah, Petunia's evil as well. Dun like her much. Anyway… I got sidetracked xD And yeah, Dumbledore DOES know what happened… it's just, he wants Lily to come to her own conclusions about things, because she'll feel better about the whole situation that way, and not as if he forced her to think a certain way.

Well, it works out in my mind… heh xD

**FanFictionFantom:** Aww, no muse? That sucks… Glad to hear you liked the chapter!

**I heart pink**: Yeah, it wasn't meant to be funny originally… then I added Sirius, and how could a story with Sirius not be funny? (Well, at least part of the time… heh xD) And yeah, Sirius is one of my favorite characters… he's on the like, top 5 List with Gred and Forge xD

My eyes are more of a dark blue-greyish color… but at certain times of day they're more grey then blue.

**crazy4tamorap:** Thanks! And yeah, I feel bad for Lils too… but she has more funny moments with James and Sirius coming up!

**nimy:** Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like the next chapter!


	7. Confrontations with Dumblebumble

_Authors note-ness: Woocha! Ice-Crushers!_

_Anywho… yeah, I don't own this. If I did, I would be really rich and famous. Of course, I will eventually be really rich and famous… just not for writing HP xP_

_And on a side note… I find it extremely hilarious that, on my family calendar, it has written down "Harry- Borders, 10 PM" on HBP partay day… I asked her if Harry was a close friend xD But that's just my humorous side speaking. _

_Anyway, on with the story! And REVIEW, por favor!_

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**Chapter 7: Confrontations with Dumble-bumble and Swashbuckling Pirates**

(The title was too long to fit xD Enjoy the chapter!)

_A certain red head ambled around the street corner and came upon her family home. She sighed, and thought to herself, 'Now, apologizing… how does one go about apologizing for something that was their fault?' Lily just shook her head to clear her mind, deciding to improv, and walked slowly up the front path, crouching at the foot of the stairs and absentmindedly tracing her and Tuna-face's initials where they were carved into the cement. A scream from inside ran through her thoughts, and she quickly stood and shoved open the door. What she saw inside made her blood run cold._

_A tall man looked at her, his dark cold eyes brimming with glee. "Ah, Miss Evans," He said graciously, "It's so charming to have you join us. If you had been here earlier, we wouldn't have had to do this." With a wave of his hand, Lily's parents appeared in the room, bound by ropes that looked vaguely like snakes, but not gagged._

_"Lily," Her father said strongly, and with that Lily started to sniffle._

_"I'm so sorry, Dad," She said tearfully. "It's all my fault. I'm-"_

_"Flower," Her mother broke in, "Don't say that. It's not-" The thoughts that it mind not be her own fault left Lily's mind as her mother started screaming in pain. She turned on the man, to see him looking at her with a manic gleam in his eyes._

_"Ah, that illustrious Cruciatus Curse," He said almost kindly. "I can cast it again, if you want, Lily. But perhaps this time on someone else?" He left off with a question as her father suddenly yelled, but tried to shoulder the pain._

_"Mum! Dad!" Lily shouted, but he paid her no heed. Her parents both screamed this time, and it was all Lily could do to not tackle the man and start punching him. However, this would have been all to moot she had realized, for he could have easily disarmed her._

_"Let them go!" She told him instead, but he just grinned as her parents screamed louder._

_"Not yet, Miss Evans," He told her, "I have a small proposition to make. Just join me-"_

_"NO!" She screamed, and he just smiled._

_"Well, I'll just tell you the advantages of this alignment. Join me, and your parents will never be harmed. You could be an asset to either side, Lily Evans… I would prefer it if you were an asset to mine." Lily just shook her head again, trying to stand her ground. The man just smiled slightly, and shrugged, causing Lily to look at him oddly. After all his persistence, he was going to give up?_

_"If not, Miss Evans, I suppose I can understand. You already have your loyalties to the light, do you not?" Lily nodded, surprised at the turn of events this talk was taking. The man smiled sympathetically, and then said quietly, "Then I'm very sorry to have to do this… or wait, no I'm not," He added with glee. "**Avada Kedavra**." He directed towards her father. Lily started screaming, and at that point she felt someone standing next to her._

"Lily, wake up,"_ She heard, and not from the dream. She recognized the voice as James', and tried to focus on it, but the man in front of her was taking all of her attention. He was now laughing as he killed her mother, and with another scream Lily tried to launch herself at the man. Someone's arms caught her around the waist and held her, and she started kicking out._

"Flower, it's just a dream. Wake up,"_ James said, and Lily lifted her head and saw that the person who had caught her was none other than James Potter. The other man seemed slightly surprised at this, but contained his shock._

_"Well, I guess the reports were not satisfactory," He said with mock disappointment. "You and Mr. Potter seem… closer than I thought. I must bid you adieu, Miss Evans," He said with a wave. "Tell Albus that Tom says hello." He disappeared, and Lily buried her head in James shoulder before crying._

"Lily, are you all right? It was just a dream," Came the question. She opened her eyes, and looked up into the worried hazel eyes of a certain James Potter. He took one look at her scared face and tear-filled eyes, and just wrapped his arms around her again. He held her for a few moments, during which Lily felt oddly safe and protected from everything wrong in her life. But as soon as she realized this, and who exactly was providing the protection, she tried to pull away from James. Noticing her struggle, he let go quickly, but clasped her hand in one of his, using his free hand to wipe away her tears.

"Lily, you were screaming. What happened?" He asked. She started to tell him, but then stopped. He noticed her hesitation, and just sighed. "It's all right, Lils. You don't have to tell me." Giving her one last hug, he rose and made as if to leave.

"James…" Lily said softly. He turned and looked at her questioningly. She shakily smiled before murmuring, "Thanks." James smiled in response, and nodded before murmuring,

"You're welcome," and leaving the room. Lily sighed before wrapping herself back up in her blankets and lying back down. Caught up in her own thoughts, such as wondering why she was having this dream, she almost missed the door opening slowly about fifteen minutes later. Almost, but not quite, for she could now hear footsteps ambling over to where her bed was.

As Lily let out a fake snore, albeit a smidge too late to realize she never snored, she felt a hand smooth her hair away from her face. The hand jerked away as a loud snore mixed with a barking laugh echoed throughout the dormitories, and she heard James mutter,

"I should probably go and find him and kick him out of the common room… Rem and Peter will have to live with his snoring." This caused her to snigger softly, for Remus had told her once of how they dealt with Sirius' snores: not at all. Once they had apparently dragged him out of the castle and he had slept on a rowboat in the middle of the lake. James' hand went back to her forehead, and she realized that people who were asleep did not break out into laughter (exempting Sirius and Cai, who laughed at anything.) and calmed her features, rolling over so she was facing James. Lily lost track of how long he stood there, with his hand on her forehead, running it through her hair every so often, and started to drift off to sleep.

What she almost missed was James brining his lips down on her forehead in a feathery kiss, and him murmuring, "Don't worry, Flower. I'll keep you safe." Almost missed, but didn't. She felt James settle himself next to her, and almost instinctively curled into his welcoming arm. He smiled, although she couldn't see it, and proceeded to fall asleep.

Lily sighed, and made a mental note to avoid James from now on, to get rid of any situations where it might involve her and James alone. _And I don't care if I can't hug him or get kissed by him… well, maybe I do_, she thought, and promptly hit her forehead with her hand. Turning back and forth, for it was very hard to fall asleep how she was sitting, propped up with James almost behind her, she finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

------------------------------------------

Lily woke up with a start as a very large object seemingly threw itself on her bed. She would have paid it no attention, dismissing it as a dream, if bright lights hadn't started flashing in her eyes and if the object hadn't been saying very loudly,

"Oh, how cute! How adorable! I'll make note of this in her diary!"

_Sirius_, Lily groaned inwardly, and opened her eyes slowly. Her vision slightly blurry due to the fact that she had just woken up, she rubbed her eyes and reached out to smack the boy, who was currently jumping on the bed.

"Sirius Black!" She managed to croak, and he looked at her closely.

"Top o' the mornin', Fairest Lily!" He said exuberantly, and kissed her cheek before ruffling her hair and pointing to James' arms, which were wrapped around her.

_I was wondering why I could barely move_, Lily thought, before bringing her mind back to the situation at hand. Mainly, how to get the camera away from Sirius and threaten him enough so he didn't say anything. Sirius, however, was just ruffling James' hair now and grinning.

"Aw, the Potter charm finally worked on dearest Lily!" This time Lily succeeded in hitting him, due to the fact that James had released her and promptly fallen off of the bed.

"Out of my room!" She shrieked, and then tried to remember exactly why James was in her room, or to be more specific, in her bed.

"Aw, Flower not having a good morning? Had a bad dreamy-weamy?" Sirius asked sympathetically, and Lily was prepared to reply with a sharp retort when she remembered that she did, in fact, have a bad dream.

_More like a bloody nightmare,_ She thought, but couldn't remember the particular details of the dream. All that would come to her mind was a cold voice asking her to join him, and the same voice saying,

"_Tell Albus Tom says hello." _Lily shook her head to clear her thoughts, and reached for her wand to hex Sirius. However, her hand came in contact with James' face before she could reach her wand, and the action resulted in Lily knocking James' glasses off.

Sirius was watching the two try to find James' glasses, which had somehow managed to find themselves in his grasp. Twirling the specs around, he was whistling not so innocently when Lily finally realized he was still there.

"Out!" She shrieked again, and Sirius put on a shocked face.

"Why fairest Lily," He said dramatically, "You force me out of your beauteous gaze, but yon bumbling oaf can stay in your glorious presence? I think not, Madam." Lily just looked at him oddly, before finally managing to get her wand in her grasp. After catching her glance, Sirius started to backtrack into the common room. "Ah," He said loudly, stumbling over her shoes, "I see I'm not welcome. Jim-bob, come. We have much to talk about." Without further ado, he grabbed James by the collar, shoved his glasses on his face, and waltzed into the other room.

Lily sat on her bed, a bit shell-shocked, until…

"Sirius Black! Get that camera back here!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A much more triumphant Lily was found in the Great Hall, calmly munching on a piece of toast with a camera in front of her. She was quite unaware of the stares she was receiving from a few people in the room: James, wondering what her dream was about; Sirius, quite upset due to the fact that Lily had charmed his voice a few octaves higher; Cai, wondering what Sirius had done this time; Ash, a bit peeved that Lily had charmed Sirius' voice; Stephanie, wondering what Sirius was going to do in retaliation; Remus, because he needed to ask Lily to excuse him from Prefect Duties for the upcoming full moon, which was in three days; Peter, just because he was zoning out and was half-asleep in a plate of bacon; and Albus Dumbledore, for he needed to have a conversation with the distraught Miss Evans.

Of course, while no one else's problems were remedied quickly, Dumbledore was able to send a quick message to a one Lily Evans by way of a first year tapping her nervously on the shoulder.

"Ex-excuse me, Miss H-head Girl," He stuttered, "Prof-professor Dumbledore w-w-wanted me to give y-you this." Lily smiled kindly, and took the simple sheet of parchment from him. Skimming it quickly, she read,

'_Miss Evans,_

_If you would, please come to my office after your Charms class, during your free period today. Also, if you would thank the young man who delivered this letter, for he was most nervous in accomplishing this feat._

_-Professor Dumbledore'_

Lily turned to thank the boy, but he had already turned away and was running to the Hufflepuff table. She sighed and made note of what he looked like, in order to thank him later, before turning towards her friends, who were all still looking at her.

"What?" She asked, and that prompted them to return to semi-normal conversation. Of course, any conversation involving Ash, Sirius, Cai, and Stephanie could hardly be considered normal.

"All right," Sirius said quite seriously, no pun intended. "I have a joke that even Cai will like. It's a blonde joke. So-"

"Sirius," Cai interrupted. "_I'm blonde_!" He shrugged.

"Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted… There were three construction guys."

"Hey Sirius," Stephanie asked, "What's a construction guy?" He shrugged again.

"What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?" Not waiting for Cai to say 'yes', he continued with his joke. "So there were three construction guys. One was French, one was Italian, and one was blonde-"

"Wait, blonde is a nationality?" Cai asked. Lily just shook her head, and tuned out the conversation as she thought about what Dumbledore needed to talk to her about.

_Probably the holidays_, she thought somewhat bitterly, but was jolted out of her memories by James, who was reading over her shoulder.

"A knut for your thoughts?" He asked, and she just rolled her eyes before folding the note and placing it in her pocket.

"I was just thinking about what color I should make Sirius' hair." He laughed, and directed her thoughts in a more hilarious direction by suggesting pranks to play on the oblivious Sirius.

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"Brilliant, Miss Evans," Professor Flitwick announced as Lily correctly performed the _Wingardium Leviosa_ charm. Lily rolled her eyes; it wasn't like they had been performing this charm since first year, oh no. But Professor Flitwick decided that they needed to review every charm they had learned over their six and a half years at Hogwarts, and they were currently a few spells into first year. She looked around the room, and saw that most people were completing the charm successfully. However, one exception to the general public was James Potter. He was performing the charm correctly every time that the Professor's back was turned, but once the attention was on him he messed up.

"Miss Evans, a word," The Professor said loudly, and Lily sighed before standing up and walking over to him.

"Yes, sir?" She asked.

"Well, dear," Flitwick said softly, "We all know that Mr. Potter has a certain weak spot with charms. It would be ever so helpful if you could make sure he is more than competent in all the charms we have learned so far in our time at Hogwarts. You see, with quidditch taking up much of his time, and well… no one wants Slytherin to win the cup." Lily sighed. Yet another time James Potter was going to get out of work due to his athletic talent.

However, as James sent a wicked grin in her direction, she realized that he was just doing it to work with her. Well, more like drool over her, considering past partnerships during Charms and Transfiguration. Lily smiled, remembering one particular instance…

"Well, Miss Evans, what say you?" Flitwick's voice broke into her thoughts, and Lily glanced at his face.

"Er…"

"Professor! I set my desk on fire!" Came James' familiar call, and Sirius broke out into laughter. The professor just sighed before looking at Lily beseechingly.

Lily sighed in response, but nodded. Professor Flitwick immediately escorted her over to James' desk, put out the small fire (which was oddly contained in one corner of the desk) and pushed her into an empty seat before checking up on the rest of the class.

"Why hullo, Lillers," James said energetically. "What brings you here?" She made a face at him.

"Besides your terrible charms work? And you should pick a harder charm than _Wingardium Leviosa_ to fudge up. You've been able to do that charm since you needed it to make Severus' books fly away end of first year." James smiled.

"Ah, you do remember some of my achievements. Well, dearest Lily, one main reason to call you over to my beauteous self was the fact that I am extremely bored with this review. I noticed that you were even more bored than I am, and I felt that you needed to jolly up a bit. Therefore, I was going to propose that I pretend to mess up the charm, cut my hand, and am therefore forced to go to the Hospital wing, with you by my side. Then we could sneak to the kitchens." Lily raised an eyebrow. It seemed like James had spent the entire lesson planning this out.

"Or," He added, "It could be because of the fact that some of the Slytherins were thinking along the lines of having you tutor them as well. Now," He said cheekily, "You can use the excuse of tutoring me whenever they insist they need help!" Lily chuckled softly, and James grinned before procuring a deck of cards. "Muggle cards," He explained, and proceeded to set up a game of go fish.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Lily was halfway to Gryffindor Tower when she remembered about the meeting with Dumbledore. She waved everyone on to the tower, but pulled Cai aside.

"Yeah, Lils?" She asked.

"I just need to go to a meeting with Dumbledore. And I'm sure that he wants to talk about my parents, and- Well, I'm really sorry for everything I said to you. I didn't mean it. It's just… I don't-" She broke off as Cai shushed her.

"Lils, maybe you can let everyone else decide what you deserve. It seems like you're punishing yourself for someone else's twisted opinions, and that's hardly right. Just- don't do anything foolish, all right? Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Lily smiled. "Don't do anything you wouldn't do? Cai, that's a very short list." Cai grinned back.

"Well, don't do anything Ash wouldn't do." As Lily raised an eyebrow, she amended the thought. "Don't do anything Stephie wouldn't do?" At Lily's still questioning glance, she thought for a few moments and finally came up with an acceptable answer. "Don't do anything Peter wouldn't do! There we go, Petey does nothing bad." Lily rolled her eyes. Leave it to Cai to turn a semi-serious situation into something somewhat funny.

_Although that is what she does_, Lily thought, remembering more of the fifth year OWL's incident. When Cai had received her grades, and her mother had basically yelled at her, kept her under 'house arrest', and ordered her to take them over, Cai had run away and hid in Remus' closet for 2 days. She had ended up coming out when she ran out of Sugar Quills, and because she was afraid that something else was alive in the closet.

Remus had patiently explained to her that it was just his pet dog, and after shrugging off the situation Cai proceeded to turn everything her mum had said into a comedy bit. Hilarious, but a bit sad, considering it was things her mother had actually said.

Cai prodded Lily out of her reverie, and asked, "What were you thinking about?"

Lily smiled before murmuring, "When you hid in Remus' closet. I was remembering when we were all playing Exploding Snap in his room, minus you because your mum wasn't letting you out of the house, and as James walked through the bedroom door you burst out of the closet holding a giant empty box of Sugar Quills, screaming that something was trying to eat you." Cai laughed, but Lily could sense she was a bit sad. Giving her friend a big hug, Lily sighed. "I have to go meet with Dumbledore now. Just do me a favor, and keep the boys from sneaking into the girls' dormitories, please."

Cai grinned. "Of course, fairest Lily. Tell Professor Dumble I say hullo." Lily just shook her head before smiling and taking off in the direction of the Headmaster's Office.

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As Lily stepped in front of the gargoyle that was guarding Professor Dumbledore's office, she racked her memory for anything that could be the password.

"Er… you wouldn't just open up for me, would you?" She asked pleadingly, but sighed, as the gargoyle seemed to glare at her. "All right, all right. Um what would he choose… a candy- that's it. Er… Acid Pop… no… Ice mice!" The gargoyle just stared at her, and Lily started to name every candy she could remember. "Cockroach Clusters, Peppermint Toads, Chocoballs, Fizzing Wizzbees, Bertie Botts-" She broke off as someone came up behind her. Whirling around, she came face to face with a certain Professor.

"Why hullo, Miss Evans. I'm sorry I was running a bit late for our meeting. _Mars Bars_," He said passively to the gargoyle, and it grudgingly stepped aside to let them pass. Lily looked at her Professor in a state of surprise; the candy that he had just named was a muggle one, and most ordinary wizards didn't know what electricity was, much less the names of muggle candies. Of course, Lily amended, Dumbledore was no ordinary wizard.

As they ascended the moving staircase, Lily's thoughts moved on to what Dumbledore had in store. Of course he would talk about her parents, she thought with a pang, but would anything else be brought to her attention? Her musings were interrupted as they reached his office door.

"After you, Miss Evans," Dumbledore said with a slight smile as he pushed open the door. Lily thanked him before walking through and standing in front of the desk. He walked around, settling himself in his chair before gesturing for Lily to sit in the one opposite him. As she sat, he offered her a sherbet lemon, which she declined. He sighed, before clasping his hands together on the desk.

"I assume you know why I have brought you here, Miss Evans," He said slowly, the twinkle in his eyes diminishing. Lily sighed.

"Not exactly, Sir. I have an inkling, but…"

Dumbledore looked her in the eye. "Miss Evans, it has come to my attention that you have not informed your friends of your current, well… shall we call it, situation."

"Well, then yes, I knew what we were going to talk about. Professor, if I may say, it _is_ my own choice as to whether or not I tell everyone."

He sighed. "Yes, Miss Evans, I do understand that. However, as your Headmaster-"

"Yes, my headmaster. Not my father. Who, by the way, is dead because of me. So, I'm sorry if I don't take your advice." Lily sighed inwardly. She had never spoken to anyone rashly, and yet that was just what she had done. She tried another approach. "Sir, I didn't really mean that. Its just-" She broke off as Dumbledore nodded calmly.

"Of course, Miss Evans. I understand." He took a moment to stare at a spot above her head, the twinkle in his eyes not as bright as it was previously. He continued speaking after he procured another sherbet lemon. "Well, there were just a free things that I would like to say to you about the subject. If I may…" He trailed off, and Lily realized he wanted a confirmation from her. When she nodded slowly, he spoke again.

"Firstly, Miss Evans, keeping your emotions bottled up inside is never the best plan. But besides that, why do you insist that this terrible tragedy is your own fault?"

In her mind, Lily was hitting her head on the wall, but outwardly she kept a cool, calm appearance. "Well, sir, I'm muggleborn."

"And?" Dumbledore probed. Lily's eyes narrowed.

"And that's that. If I hadn't been a witch, this would never have happened to them. We would have lived peacefully in Kent, and they would still be alive, and we wouldn't worry about this war, and Petunia would still speak to me, and-"

"It seems to me, Miss Evans, that you are using this one particular instance to create a reason for all problems in your life. Am I wrong?"

"But Professor-" Lily insisted, but he waved her off.

"Please let me continue, Miss Evans. Yes, while being a muggleborn may have some semblance of a reason as to why Voldemort attacked and killed your parents, it is not your own fault. Rather, it is the delusional thoughts of Voldemort that have caused this terrible occurrence. Now, Lily, I can sense that you do not want to speak of this any further. I will, however, offer you this advice:

"Trust your friends, Miss Evans. They are loyal to you, and love you very much, even those whose new-found friendship you have yet to start to enjoy." He let Lily ponder this for a second, and then continued speaking. "Now, has anything else caused you to think that this matter is entirely your fault?"

Lily bit her lip, but didn't say anything. Dumbledore frowned.

"Miss Evans, I must inform you that this is of the utmost importance. You-"

"I had a dream," She said, softly and slowly. "My… my parents were killed in front of me. By a man… cold and dark. He- he asked me to join him, and I said no. So it is my fault, really. If I had just-"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, it is not your fault. Dreams are a manifestation of your current thoughts, Miss Evans. I presume you were blaming yourself before you had this dream?" Lily nodded, and he continued. "Therefore, we can deduct that it was just your current thoughts forming this dream world. Was there anything else in the dream, dear?"

A single sentence ran through Lily's mind at that point. _'Tell Albus that Tom says hello.'_

"Tell Albus that Tom says hello," She repeated softly, but Dumbledore caught it.

Eyes widening slightly, he asked quietly, "Was this Tom the person who 'killed' your parents?" Lily nodded, and Dumbledore sighed.

"I am sorry, Miss Evans, that you had to go through this. If you could please explain in its entirety, your dream?"

Lily complied, but she left out the part about James appearing.

"And then, after he killed them, I screamed and woke up."

"Is that everything, Miss Evans?" He asked. She nodded, and Dumbledore sat back in his chair, reviewing the information.

After a few minutes of silence, Lily hesitantly asked, "Sir?" Dumbledore sat upright with a start; apparently he had forgotten Lily was in the room. She hid a smile, and asked, "May I leave now? I have Potions in a few minutes, and I need to check to make sure my friends have completed their homework." He smiled, but his eyes held a troubled look.

"Of course, Miss Evans. However, if this dream plagues you anymore, inform me immediately." Lily nodded, and quickly left the headmaster's office, heading for the Gryffindor Common Room. If anyone needed a laugh right now, it was her.

----------------------------------------------------------

Lily sighed as she slowly stirred the potion in front of her. A voice at her elbow made her jump in shock, and the professors voice rang out from behind her.

"Ah, Miss Evans, a bit preoccupied, I see. No matter, the potion will still turn out spectacularly, as always."

Lily turned to face her teacher.

"Oh, Professor Slughorn, I'm so sorry. I almost spilled the potion, and-" She broke off as Slughorn chuckled.

"No matter, Miss Evans. No matter. You'll be getting top marks anyway, I reckon. You could probably take the job from me at this moment!"

Lily chuckled as she caught Ash's eye; she was rolling her eyes and mimicking Slughorn's well recited speech. Slughorn took this as a sign to continue, and kept praising her.

"Of course, if one is part of the Slug Club, one must be adept in Potions, and ready for life beyond! I've always know, Miss Evans, that you would do great things. Personally-"

"Thank you very much, Sir." Lily interrupted. "But I would like to try and finish the potion." Leaning closer, she whispered, "I would not want the rest of the class to become jealous." Slughorn nodded enthusiastically, and said loudly,

"Carry on, Miss Evans!"

This time it was Lily who rolled her eyes, but she was interrupted when a loud BANG! echoed throughout the classroom. When the dust cleared, she caught sight of a bewildered Cai standing in front of a blackened cauldron; soot covered both her face and Remus'. When Slughorn turned to her, she just shrugged and offered,

"Well, we all know that Potions isn't my best subject," as an explanation. Remus just buried his face in his hands, and Lily performed a quick _**scourgify** _charm to clean them up.

"Five points from Miss Brown for her… well, less than satisfactory Potions' work. Sorry dear. But ten points to Miss Evans for excellent charms work!"

An eye-rolling epidemic seemed to go through the class: First Cai, followed by Remus, followed by James. This happened most often. Cai would blow something up, Lily would fix it. However, at this point Remus was forcing Cai to stay far away from their cauldron as he valiantly tried to start anew with their project.

--------------------------------------------

The end of yet another day of classes found Stephanie and arguing as they entered the Gryffindor Common Room with the rest of the gang.

"Really, Sirius, did you have to play a prank on Snape? Again?" Stephanie asked. Sirius nodded enthusiastically.

"I think today's prank went off rather well, don't you all think so?" He asked everyone else. They nodded dutifully, and Stephanie sighed.

"But really, Sirius, the whole blowing up the cauldron thing is a bit overdone."

"Ah, yes," He stated, "But… his hair turned Gryffindor red and gold, and now his voice has a swashbuckling roar to it!"

"A swashbuckling roar?" Remus asked hesitantly.

Sirius nodded again. "I've always wanted to be a pirate!" He said with a flourish, as he drew an imaginary sword.

Cai bounced up and down. "Really? I've always wanted to be a pirate too!" They proceeded to have a sword fight around the common room, before Ash glared at Cai and Cai 'discovered' that she had homework to do.

Sirius sighed as he settled into the squashy armchair that he had recently claimed as his own, complete with a sign that said, 'This seat is Sirius', paws off. Trespassers will be castrated.'

Of course, the first and second years had no clue what this meant, besides the 'This seat is Sirius' ', but that didn't matter.

"Didn't you guys just ever want to leave this life of wizardry behind? Just, fulfill all of your other dreams?" Sirius asked everyone. "I know that I for one have always wanted to be a pirate. A childhood dream of mine." Cai nodded enthusiastically, while Ash nodded only because it was Sirius who was talking.

Sirius, however, took this to mean that everyone in the room wanted to be a pirate.

"Remy!" He said cheerfully. "I didn't know you dreams of being a swashbuckling captain as well! It's just a small world, isn't it?" Remus groaned, but didn't comment, until Sirius transfigured a piece of parchment into a frilly shirt.

"Here you go, Remy!" Sirius announced, holding out the shirt. "Go put this on. You'll be the first pirate out of all of us!"

"But I don't wanna be a pirate!" Remus said, backing away from Sirius and tripping over a table. Sirius turned to Cai.

"Wouldn't Remy here make an adorable pirate?" He asked her. She rolled her eyes before telling Remus,

"Yes, you would make an adorable pirate." Remus blushed slightly, but Stephanie interrupted their conversation to berate Sirius.

"Really, Sirius, if we could get back to my point. Which was…" She trailed off for a few minutes, during which Sirius was humming, 'Yo ho yo ho a Pirate's Life for Me!' However, once she managed to get her mind back on track, she was back to talking.

"So really, the point of my argument was, Sirius, do you ever do any good deeds for anyone? I mean, I know you consider pranking Snape to be for the good of the wizarding world, but really, any good deeds?"

"Of course Sirius does good deeds," Ash said somewhat defensively. Besides liking Sirius; as shown in her diary entries, third year to present; she was his best friend besides James. "He helped that first year find the Great Hall in third year, and he let me copy his Divination homework last week, and he-"

"First of all," Stephanie broke in, "That first year was the Head Girl. And I remember she took as many points as she could because besides being a Slytherin, she was very defensive of being short." Sirius shrugged.

"What can I say? First year… seventh year… they all look alike!" Stephanie rolled her eyes.

"All right, so she did sort of look like a first year. But the divination homework… James made that up, and Sirius copied it, before letting you copy what he wrote."

This time Ash shrugged in response. "Hey, I still got the homework done." They all laughed, and Sirius sagely clasped his hands together.

"You see, young grasshoppers," He said wisely, "Every good deed I do drains just a little bit of my soul. If I kept doing good deeds, I'd just waste away, like dust in the wind." Everyone stared at him, and he took this as a sign to continue with his speech.

"Just dust in the wind…" He whispered. Then he said loudly, "All that would be left of me would be my dashing rugged good looks and this oh so charming shirt."

------------------------------------------

_-shrugs- So… I dunno if anyone will like this chapter… It's been taking me forever to finish it because I've had my play. It was totally awesome, by the way. I had two big solos (one in Sing! from A Chorus Line, and one in Chim Chimeny from Mary Poppins xD) and it was a lot of fun xD_

_I'd also just like to say that the oddest bits were written at like, 1 AM… or right now, at 12:30 AM. So yeah… I'm a bit sleepy, yet hyper, so… well, just… review, please!_

**Trillian225:** Heh, good. Tell me if I went overboard with the he saids in this chapter tho… I think I did. I have a habit of overusing certains words or phrases. 

Like, if you have a conversation with me, I swear that I will overuse the following words: Like, Sweet, and hence…

Heh xD Oh, and heh. Heh xD See?

And yes, poor Ashey. It is her own fault, tho. I mean, really, keeping a diary when you're best friends with a Marauder? xD

**Ashey: **Lol, Gilderpoleon… one of the better moments xD That part'll be in one of the future chapters.

"But… I spent my summer hunting wolverines in Alaska!" xD

And my friends decided that I'm the new ND… Clala the Koala. I swear, I'm being serious. sirius. Serious. Heh xD They had me quote the lines in my ND voice… it was funny xD Of course, the mic guy had turned on my microphone then, so at dress rehersal everyone suddenly heard me says "Frickin' sweet!"

xD

And if by who you think Alicia is, you mean loofah… then yes. Heh xD

**Always-blond/ I heart pink:** Heh, you're blonde too? xD

Anyway… lol, Gred and Forge are the best. And so is Sirius.

And Ash is the one who likes Sirius… she's also his best friend. I'm going to do a whole explaining each character thingummy in like, the next chapter. I'll actually make myself write it, this time xD Mebe it'll be… well, no, I won't say, cause that would ruin it xD

And the cartoons were just my way of expressing my frustration at the fact that I can't draw for my life, and I'm signed up for AP Studio Art.

And yeah, I read HBP. I loved it, but I felt it was more of a prequel then a definite story. I dunno. I did love it, though.

**FanFictionFantom:** Yeah, we did learn so much more. And I do agree about the R.A.B. thing. And yeah, the quote was hilarious. I think I'm going to give it a part in this fanfic… well, besides the whole obvious "Remus does transform every full moon" thing, that quote needs a place xD

**blue mariposa:** Yeah, I've taken Spanish for 4 years now xD At rehearsal we had been speaking in Spanish, and I meant to say ojos, but I said osos instead for some odd reason so I put it in the fic xD

**x-woman1:** Lol, hope you like the new chapter!

**Mr. Moony: **Lol, your character will get weirder xD I'm still figuring out plot lines, but once I do… heh xD

_And.. that's all the reviewer responses for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed, and please REVIEW!_

_  
PERDY PERDY PERDY PERDY PLEASE!_

_  
And on a side note, a producer from Broadway was at my show so I'm happy xD_

_  
SO REVIEW AND MAKE ME HAPPIER!_

_And I'll tap dance! Even though I can't tap dance. But it doesn't matter!_

_Oh._

_I'll shut up now xD_

_Oh yeah. The whole "But I don't wanna be a pirate!" Line is from Seinfeld. Great show xD_

_So is some other stuff.. but I can't remember what, exactly. Or it might be from Family Guy. Heh xD_


	8. Love Potions for Dummies

_Hullo everyone xD_

_Disclaimer: Uh… I don't own this xD Heh, well that was simple._

_And you can so picture Sirius being a pirate xD It's one of the reasons why it would have been cool if Johnny Depp had played Sirius in PoA. It just would have worked. They're both pirates xD_

_But Gary Oldman is cool too xD_

_And Cillian Murphy should play a young version of Sirius. Just saying xD He was scary yet cute in Red Eye… yeah._

_And I have to call JKR a genius. Won-won. It's a classic._

_I want to find a guy named Ronald so I can call him Won-Won. I don't even care if we're good friends. I'll just call him Won-Won. But I'm having trouble finding someone named Ronald… _

_And sorry for this chapter taking forever and ever to come out… But I'll most definately be able to write during Physics, because I moved down a level (Honors to Regents) and it's so frickin' easy... yeah xD_

_Soo….. read and review!_

_-------------------------------------------------------_

Lily sighed as she tried to pay attention to what Professor McGonagall was saying.

"Now, to transfigure this rock into a salt shaker, what must one do? Anyone? Miss Jones?"

She sighed again. Although she had improved in Transfiguration, it was still one of her least favorite classes. A crumpled piece of parchment hitting her forehead interrupted her thoughts, and she glared at James, who was grinning cheekily. He mimed opening the parchment, and Lily complied.

_Flower-_ She read silently, _This is boring. Can you send me a hex, we can play up that whole rivalry bit, ending in you and Sirius taking me to the Hospital Wing? Write back- The charming James Potter._

Lily shook her head, although she was smiling, and wrote back,

_Sorry James, but you should know me better. I'd never skive off a class, even if it is Transfiguration. And you go to the Hospital Wing enough anyway. I'm surprised Madam Pomfry doesn't have a bed reserved for you there._ She threw the parchment back to James, but due to her poor aiming skills it hit Sirius in the back of the head; he had been talking to Ash quietly, presumably about the fate of the poor goldfish, which were due to be confiscated by McGonagall any day now. James chuckled and grabbed the parchment before Sirius got to it, and read it quickly. Soon enough, another piece of parchment was zooming back to her.

_Fine, Flower, I was just looking out for our well-being. You never know when I might just pass out from lack of food, and then you would have no excuse to leave this class. And by the way, Poppy does have a bed reserved for me. It's known as Potter's Place. Sirius has one as well. His, however, is reserved under 'Charming Bloke'. I wonder which one of us she likes more._

She laughed inwardly, but had to quickly hide the parchment as an imposing shadow loomed over her desk.

"Miss Evans?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly.

"Yes," Lily replied slowly, folding the parchment into a miniscule piece and trying to rack her memory for what they had just been discussing.

McGonagall sighed. "Miss Evans, if one wanted to transfigure a salt shaker into a duck, what would one do?" Lily glanced at James, who was motioning with his wand.

"Er…"

"And without the help of Mr. Potter," She continued calmly, and Lily blushed.

"Well, Professor, you would-" She broke off as Sirius raised his hand and started clearing his throat impatiently.

"Yes, Mr. Black?" McGonagall asked Sirius with a slight hint of disdain.

"Aw, Minnie," Sirius told her, but she cut him off.

"Mr. Black, I have told you as many times as there are stars, do not call me by that abominable nickname." A light bulb went off above his head.

"Oh yes!" He said loudly, as if remembering. "I'm to call you Professor McGonagall in class, and Minnie when I see you in the halls and at dinnertime, unless Professor Kettleburn is in the vicinity, ." McGonagall just shook her head sadly: it was evident that she had given up on this fight.

"Your question, Mr. Black?" She asked him.

He waved her off. "Minnie- er, Professor Minnie, you can call me Sirius."

Twitching slightly, she replied stiffly, "I will call you Mr. Black. Now, your question?"

Sirius slapped his forehead after a few minutes. "Blimey, I forgot! Minnie, how could you?"

McGonagall ignored him, and turned back to Lily. "Miss Evans, would you answer your question?"

"Of course, Professor McGonagall. Now, you would-"

Sirius started to clear his throat impatiently. Again.

"Mr. Black?" McGonagall asked, a smidge angrily.

"Now Minnie, take a deep breath. One… two… three. Much better now. All the anger's gone. Now, my question had to do with this. If one were hypothetically to acquire into his- their possession, a pet that was not on the permitted pet list, what would happen to that person? Hypothetically, of course."

Now there was a distinctive twitch in her left eye.

"Blimey, Professor Minnie, d' you have something in your eye?"

The entire class groaned as Sirius vacated his seat to peer at the somewhat annoyed Professor's eye.

"Please take your seat, Mr. Black," She said civilly. Sirius shrugged, and resumed his spot on the bench, but kept an eye on McGonagall.

"And as to answer your question, Mr. Black," McGonagall said with what may be called an evil smirk, "The person- hypothetically, of course- would suffer some detentions. The animals would be sent away, and-" She broke off as Sirius literally threw himself at her and grabbed a fistful of her robes in one hand.

"You wouldn't do that, would you? You can't just-" He blew his nose into the sleeve of her robe, and many of the students noticed a wink he sent in Lily's direction. "You can't… you wouldn't… would you?"

To say Professor McGonagall looked shocked would have been an understatement. "Mr. Black, please resume your seat-" Sirius blew his nose into the sleeve of her robe again.

"But Minnie, you have to let me keep them! Haven't you always wanted a tank full of goldfish? I've already named them, Minnie, you can't take them away from me!" He moved over to Stephanie, and put an arm around her shoulders. "Now tell me the truth, Minnie, if this darling girl had a pet turtle, and she had named it, would you-"

"Telfni. I would name her Telfni." Stephanie interrupted.

"Right. But anyway… would you take away this girl's turtle? Haven't you always wanted to have a pet turtle? Or a tank full of goldfish? I know you have, Minerva. D' you want to know their names? I'll tell you anyway. Fred, George, and… Fork." He added dramatically. McGonagall rolled her eyes, and asked,

"Is that all, Black?"

Sirius sighed. "I do wish that you could see things from my perspective, Minnie," He said dramatically. One of the Slytherins in the class snickered something that sounded remarkably like,

"Ah, perspective. Big words the three year old is using today," before being subjected to a most painful stinging hex, courtesy of one Ashton Fitch.

A hollow sound reverberated off of the walls of the classroom, signifying the end of that class period. McGonagall was currently in a staring match with Sirius, who was trying his best to make her laugh.

"So, Minnie," He said, pulling on his ears and puffing out his cheeks, "Can I keep the goldfish?" The corner of McGonagall's mouth twitched in what could be called a smile, but she called out,

"Miss Evans, a word?" Lily froze from her spot by the door; it seemed like she wouldn't be able to avoid the teacher. She slunk back in, and Sirius clapped McGonagall on the shoulder before skipping out of the room.

"Yes, Professor?" Lily asked quietly.

McGonagall sighed. "That boy is a nuisance, isn't he?" Lily nodded in reply, and the professor continued. "Now, Miss Evans, have you developed plans for the Valentines Day Ball that Professor Dumbledore suggested?"

Lily paled. The ball had completely slipped her mind, and…

"Of course, Professor," Her traitorous mouth answered for her. "We- James and I- just have to finalize some of the plans, and then we can submit them to you for review."

Professor McGonagall nodded. "Good, good. Although I don't know what Albus was thinking. James Potter, throwing a Valentine's Day Ball? I wouldn't be surprised if the entire castle came crashing down around our knees, what with those hi-jinks that he and Black get into. I expect the plans by tonight."

Lily looked a bit frightened. "Er, Professor, I… I… Remus!" She said suddenly, and McGonagall looked a bit shocked.

"Excuse me, Miss Evans?"

"Remus, Professor. Tonight is… well, you know. And I wanted to go over the plans with Remus so he will be able to dissuade James, Sirius, and Peter from doing anything to ruin this event."

McGonagall nodded. "Well then, Miss Evans, might I suggest that I have them in my hands by Friday morning at the latest. You may go now. Oh," she added as an afterthought, "Please inform Mr. Black that he may keep the fish. For now."

Lily smiled, and left the room.

-------------------------------------------------

"I hope you're happy with the extreme dramatic lengths I went to to get you out of answering that question," An exuberant Sirius said.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Sirius, I knew the answer. I was going to answer her, and you wouldn't have had to suffer the embarrassment of crying on Professor McGonagall's shoulder."

Sirius looked offended. "Embarrassed? Sirius Martin Black is _never_ embarrassed!"

"Martin?" She asked.

He shrugged. "All right, so I made it up. Martin is such a spiffy name. But what did Minnie say about the fish? I know she said something."

Lily sighed dramatically, and considered lying to him, but didn't have the heart to.

"You can keep them," She informed him, the corner's of her mouth twitching up in a grin. Sirius started to laugh, and grabbed Lily's hands, dancing around in a circle.

"D' you hear that? Fred, George, Fork? You hear that? You can stay!"

Lily's head spun in circles when he was done spinning her around, and she smiled sympathetically in Ash's direction, for Sirius was headed there next.

James appeared at her side, and asked, "So, what did Minnie keep you after for? To lecture you about how you should pay attention in class, or how you should no longer hang around with me?" Lily rolled her eyes, and answered,

"No, about that Valentines Day Ball that you had Remus convince Professor Dumbledore to hold."

James grinned. "Ah yes, where would we all be without dear ol' Remmy?"

"Probably at the bottom of a deep, dark hole, or lying in a ditch somewhere." Lily retorted. "Now, we need to plan this ball. You don't have anything already, do you?"

James blanked for a second, and then replied slowly, "Of course I have something. I wouldn't leave this till the last second. I'll bring all the plans to our meeting. We can't-"

"I know we can't meet tonight," She interrupted. "But how about tomorrow night. That gives us an entire night to finalize the plans before we have to hand the plans to Professor McGonagall in the morning. All right?"

James nodded. "Perfect, Flower." He was about to say more, but he noticed Lily staring at the first years sitting by the fireplace, cutting out pieces of paper into the shape of paper hearts. "Lils?" He asked hesitantly.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and turned back to him. "Yes?"

"Anything wrong?"

"No, nothing," she replied. James looked at her beseechingly, but didn't say anything else about it. "I'm going to go upstairs and… study," She told him, and went up the stairs. James watched her go, and once he was sure she had gone around the curve in the staircase, he sighed. _Why won't she just admit it? About her parents… although I wouldn't mind her admitting that she really is madly in love with me, and-_ James broke off his train of thoughts by hitting his head on the closest wall.

"Jim-bob," Sirius called out, "You do know that won't work! I thought we all learned our lesson with little Miss Ashton over here." He gestured to Ash, who had a small bruise on her forehead from hitting her head against the window.

Once he heard Sirius' voice, James remembered one small detail about this Valentines Day ball. Vaulting over the sofa back, he sat down next to Stephanie, conjured a piece of parchment and grabbed a quill from Remus, who was trying to his homework before having to leave for the Whomping Willow.

"Okay, guys, help me come up with ideas about this ball thing. Does it have to have food?"

------------------------------------------

Lily sighed as she looked over James' plans for the Valentines Day Ball. _Food… Butterbeer… Firewhiskey… Mistletoe… Dumbledore and Minnie dancing the cha-cha?_ She looked up at James, and winced. He had a bad bruise on his forehead (supposedly from running into a wall) and a few cuts on his arm from the previous night. Lily healed them quickly, and then went back to the list.

"James, we can't have mistletoe at a Valentines Day ball," She told him kindly, even though it seemed as if he had thrown together these plans the night before sitting around the fire with the rest of their friends.

"Why not?" He asked curiously.

"Because," She said, sighing, "Mistletoe is a Christmas tradition. Not a Valentines one."

"Well, can't we have those evil little Cupid's flying around?"

Lily smirked. "Would you like to fall in love with Eugenia from Slytherin again?"

James shuddered, and said slowly, "Well… we could have a kissing booth!"

She looked at him strangely. "A kissing booth?"

He nodded. "Yup. We could charge… a sickle a kiss. Or a few knuts… but we could put the money towards… towards… er…"

"Buying new books for the library?" Lily suggested. James shrugged.

"I was thinking of it going towards prank equipment, but whatever floats your boat."

"It's a possibility. Who would run it, though?" James grinned, and ran a hand through his already messy hair.

"Well, you, me, and Sirius. Maybe one of the girls, too." She looked at him incredulously.

"Like any guy would want to kiss me, and pay for it." James looked back at her with an equally astonished tone.

"Lily Evans, when you get up in the morning and look in the mirror, what do you see?"

"Well, a normal day, or a pranking day?"

"Normal day," He said with a grin.

"Well, on a normal day," She said slowly, "I see… a somewhat short girl, with overly bright eyes and over-the-top red hair that's so thick it's insane." James shook his head.

"Then you don't see what every other person at this school sees. When I look at you, I see…" He drifted off, and Lily smiled slightly. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, and he came back to attention. "Right. When I see you, I see a beautiful girl- young woman, really, with the most entrancing green eyes. And your hair is like the color of the setting sun. So in answer to your question- or lack there of, yes, guys would pay to kiss you." She blushed.

"Well… er, thanks, James. Shall we get back to work?" He nodded, still staring at her. Now with her face being a furious red that was contesting with her hair for the brighter color, she bowed her head over the list.

After a few minutes, she said, "You didn't mention anything about music. What are we going to do for music?" When James shrugged, she offered her own solution, not noticing that he was staring off into space. "Well, we could have classical music playing. And we could dance the traditional dances. Waltz, foxtrot, meringue-"

"Ah huh," James interrupted. "I like meringue."

Lily brightened. "All right. So we'll need to hire a quartet, at least. Or maybe we could charm the instruments to play on their own, and that way we wouldn't have to hire anyone. We-"

"Why would we need a quartet?" James asked.

Lily looked at him strangely. "Why else? To play music, James. That's what a quartet does."

"Why would we need music for meringue?"

"Because when one usually dances, they need music. Unless they are like Cai, and they're dancing to the song playing in their head. Which is usually an odd version of a show tune."

James looked at her curiously. "Wait, we're not talking about pie?"

---------------------------------------------------

Lily smiled as she jumped onto her bed after the meeting. Unfortunately, memories of jumping on her bed with her mother came to her mind, no matter how hard she tried to force them away. Sniffling slightly, she hit her head on her pillow furiously.

"Why does every little thing remind me of them?" She asked.

"Remind you of who?" A voice answered, and Lily sighed. James Potter, yet again.

"No one, James," She called out, "Good night!"

She heard the door click shut, and went back to hitting her head on the pillow. It was getting harder to keep everything bottled up inside, even though she deserved it. It was her fault, and-

_No it's not,_ a little voice in her head told her. _You know it's not your fault. It was Voldemort's fault, not your own._

_Shut up, Cai_, Lily told the voice.

_I'm not Cai, I'm you_, the voice replied a bit sarcastically. _And don't even start to think I'm Sirius. That would just be wrong._

_Why am I arguing with a voice in my head?_ Lily thought.

_Because you're being an idiot and won't agree with me? _It said hopefully. Lily sighed.

_But it **is** my fault,_ she replied. _It is. If I wasn't a witch, then they wouldn't have been targeted, and if they weren't targeted, then they sure as hell would alive right now, and if-_

_You can what if yourself to death, sweetheart._

_I wasn't "what if-ing", I was "and if-ing"._

_Same difference. Now-_

_And why am I still talking with you? You're just a voice in my head. Get out!_ Lily resumed hitting her head on the pillow.

_You know that you want to tell everyone about the holiday's_, the voice said a few minutes later. _You know it's not your fault. You know-_

"I know nothing!" Lily murmured into her pillow. "Absolutely nothing. Now I'm going to sleep."

--------------------------

Lily sighed as sunlight streamed into the windows of her dorm on Saturday morning. No matter where she slept, whether in the seventh year girl's dormitory, or in her own dorm, she still had dreams about her parents. And not happy dreams, but dreams where she was with them as they died, the situation changing every time. However, in this dream, Lily's friends slowly died along with her parents, one by one, each telling her that if she would have just trusted them, and hadn't blamed herself, they would still be alive.

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Lily thought about each of her friends.

Cai Brown. She would start with the one she had known the longest. Ever since she was four, and she had wandered out into the neighbor's yard, she and Cai were close friends. Best friends, one would say, if they had seen each other more. But no, Cai's parents had whisked her and her two brothers around Europe, visiting their family located in various parts of the continent. France, Spain, Italy… Cai was around each winter, and during some parts of the summer, for her mother hated to travel in extreme cold or heat.

But when Cai was at her grandmother's home in England, they had a blast. Lily fondly remembered tea parties with their dolls, playing in the playground, and the time Lily first figured out she was a witch. She had been playing in the playground with Cai when whistling caught their ears; Cai had immediately jumped off of the swing and tackled her brother Christopher, who had returned from Hogwarts. Of course, Lily thought that he just went to a boarding school somewhere in the country, where Cai would go when she turned eleven. But Lily said goodbye to the Brown's, and ambled back to her home, for she knew that the day Chris came back was family day.

However, Lily had forgotten her sweater at the Brown home the day before, and with a hop, skip, and a jump she was over the fence and in their yard. What had given her one of the greatest shocks of her life was when she came upon Cai and Chris flying in the air on what seemed to be broomsticks.

Of course, that prompted a lot of questions, but the end result was an seven year old Lily finding out she was a witch, for only someone of magical descent would be able to see through the charms placed on the household. And a fourteen-year-old Christopher graciously let Lily have a try at flying, although she was terrible.

The next magical kid Lily met was Remus Lupin, at the annual Brown Christmas Party. A shy, timid nine-year-old with light brown hair, he seemed old for his age, as if he had been through a lot. Which she now knew he had, of course, but had not known then. Lily grinned as she remembered Remus and Cai being forced to dance together, while Lily watched from a comfortable armchair in front of the fireplace, sipping punch and giggling. After that first meeting though, Lily had not seen Remus until the Hogwarts train, for the next Christmas, the one where they were ten had unfortunately been on the full moon.

And yes, the Hogwarts Train. Lily was somewhat shocked to find her letter delivered by a large owl, for although she knew she was a witch, she didn't think she would be able to attend Hogwarts; she was even more shocked when she finally saw the train. However, Christopher had kept them in line, and managed to find them an empty compartment before disappearing to find his own friends.

---------------------------------------------------------

_The two first years sat quietly on the benches, until a girl knocked impatiently on the door. Cai rose and opened the door quickly, admitting a short brunette and a raven-haired girl a bit taller than the first, although Cai still had a few inches on her. Without asking, the raven-haired girl took a seat, and the brunette looked pointedly at her until the girl got the picture._

"Ashton Fitch," She said cheerfully, extending her hand. "And this is Stephanie Jones. Give it a minute, and we'll probably have a few boys running in here." At that Stephanie giggled, although Lily and Cai looked at her strangely.

"_Some of Ash's friends," She explained, "We were trying to find a place to sit, and one of them decided to create an empty compartment. So, of course, being the silly boys that they are, one of them performed a charm and we ran as fast as we could. We-"_

_Her sentence was interrupted as four boys slammed open the door, threw themselves on the floor, and let the door shut with a click as what seemed to be a horde of people thundered past the compartment._

_One of them raised his head and glanced around the room before letting his eyes rest on Ashton._

"_Ashey!" He said cheerfully. "What a pleasant surprise!" Seeing Lily and Cai's curious glance, he untangled himself from the mess of boys and helped each of them up. Standing them in a straight line, he seemed to think for a second before turned around and gesturing at the group._

"_Ladies," He said charmingly, "May I introduce James Potter," The messy-haired boy smiled, "Remus Lupin," Both Lily and Cai waved at the brown-haired boy, "And Petey." The blonde-haired chubby boy looked indignant. After a whispered conversation, he amended, "Er… Peter Eugene Pettigrew III." The boy, having completed the announcing, took a seat next to Ashton, and motioned for the rest of the boys to find seats around the compartment. Pretty soon everyone was squished together, but there was still one question on their minds._

"_And who are you?" Cai asked, pointing at the announcing boy. He stood up, as if having forgotten something, and bowed before sweeping his somewhat long black hair out of his eyes._

"_Sirius Black, Madam." Seeing Cai's glare, he quickly told her, "No, no, I'm nothing like my family. Honestly. Just ask Ashey here." Cai looked at him for a few moments, before shrugging and motioning for him to sit back down, which he did. After a few more minutes, James looked up at Lily from his spot on the floor at her feet, and asked,_

"_Well, you found out who we are, now who are you two?" Lily blushed, and Cai grinned._

"_Well, this is my dear friend Lily Evans, Jimmy."_

"_It's James," He said flatly._

"_No, it's Jim-bob!" Sirius told him. James put his head in his hands and shook his head sadly, while Lily patted his shoulder somewhat sympathetically._

"_And I'm Cai Brown," She told everyone. Sirius seemed to find this funny, and convulsed into laughter. Cai glared at him, and asked, "What do you think is so funny about my name, Black?" That only served to make him laugh harder. Ash finally seemed to catch on, and chuckled._

"_Well, Cai," She informed her, "Besides the fact that Sirius is slightly crazy," She dodged the oncoming friendly punch, "he finds it funny that both of your last names are colors." Cai grinned._

"_That is funny," Cai told Sirius, who was rolling on the floor, laughing, "But you could have said something first instead of just laughing."_

_Sirius shook his head, and Ash took up explaining him. "His motto is 'Laugh first, explain later.' We tried to translate it into Latin, but while we were trying to find the dictionary-"_

"_Or a spell," Sirius added, finally stopping his laugher._

"_Yeah, or a spell, we found Tibby,"_

"_The house elf,"_

"_Yeah, Tibby the house elf, baking cookies. Naturally, we decided that cookies were more important than Latin. Plus the fact that Sirius' mum found out I was in the house when I wasn't supposed to, and-" She broke off as the rest of the group looked at her strangely. "Well, let's just say that his motto is 'Laugh first, talk later', and we couldn't translate it into Latin due to outside interference. Ooh, is that the food cart I hear?"_

-------------------------------------------------

Lily smiled. That first incident on the train proved to be the start of a lasting friendship, at least between the four girls. Each of them was completely different, yet they shared certain qualities and balanced each other out. Later on, at the feast, she had met Mary Williams, another first year Gryffindor. Mary, Stephanie, Ash, Cai, and herself shared that dorm throughout the first year, and remained steadfast friends with the four boys across the tower.

Of course, that all changed come second year, when the boys chose their first pranking victim. Of course, they had to pick of the girls, for they figured that they wouldn't get as mad as if it was a first year or an older student; rather, they might find it funny.

Oh how they were wrong. They had charmed Ash's raven colored hair to Slytherin green. She had thought it was funny, up until the point where she found out that they did not know the counter-charm.

All in all, that was one reason why Lily Evans became so good at charms. If not for her amazing sense at charm-work, it was because she was the one who was needed to cast a counter-charm to any pranks the "Marauders" pulled. Yes, they had even given their little group a nickname, although no one but the four girls, Mary excluded, and the Marauder's themselves knew it.

_Let's fast forward to third year_, Lily thought grimly. _That wonderful meeting with Alicia._ The insufferable gits, as Lily decided to call them, had pranked an innocent little first year, prompting an amiable relationship between all the girls.

That left one question for Lily. While it was a known fact that Alicia, along with almost all the other girls in Gryffindor Tower, along with the rest of the girls in the school, had a crush on Sirius Black, she was not known for… over-the-top actions. And the previous display counted as an over-the-top action. Sirius had been rambling on and on a few days ago about how he was getting tired of all the attention from his fan club, for he was getting tired of the life of a bachelor, and-

_No._ She thought. _He wouldn't._

And then Lily remembered a charming bit of information from what happened **after** Sirius had been talking to her about if it was possible to make an anti-love potion.

He went to ask Cai for help.

----------------------------------------------------------

A somewhat furious Lily was found in the Gryffindor Common room a few minutes later, pacing in front of the crackling fireplace.

_How dare he?_ She thought. _He knows that you can't make an anti-love potion, and out of all the people he asks for help, he asks Cai? The girl who has failed so many Potions practical's that her name is on the wall with a record number. Granted, she put it up herself, but still… I don't know why in hell Ash adores him, he's a bloody idiot!_ She finished her inner rant with a snort of anger, and collapsed into one of the many squashy armchairs.

About half an hour later, someone poked her shoulder.

"Excuse me," a very familiar voice said, "But you're sitting in my seat. See?" They dangled the oh-so-familiar sign that said 'This seat is Sirius', paws off. Trespassers will be castrated.'

"Black," Lily growled, and Sirius jumped back.

"Oh, Lils! If you wanted to take a seat, you could have just asked! Of course I'll let you use it!" She jumped up, and poked his shoulder to enunciate each word.

"Sirius Black, how dare you make a love potion! You inconsiderate, incorrigible, abominable, pr-"

"Lily, Lily, Lily," Sirius said, shaking his head. "I didn't make a love potion. You must have me confused with someone else."

This calmed Lily slightly. "You didn't?"

"No, no, no," He replied, "I made an **anti-**love potion. It's completely different."

--------------------------------------

"Sorry Lillers," Cai said loudly from inside the dormitory, where she had locked herself in. "But I didn't know he would actually give anyone the potion! And in my defense, I tried to make an anti-love potion. It just didn't work!"

It was at this moment that the door flew open, and Lily carefully walked across the room. "Cai Brown, if you think for one second I will take that as an excuse, you can just go and shove that reason up your-" She broke off as Cai knocked her to the ground and ran out of the room.

"Remy!" Cai shrieked as she fell down the stairs, and proceeded to hide behind the chair in which Remus was sitting.

"What did you do this time, Cai?" He asked with a sigh.

"More like what didn't she do," Stephanie said with a grin. Cai shrieked again as Lily caught up with her, and ran around the chair to keep Remus between herself and the very angry Lily.

"She made a love potion!" Lily yelled, and Remus winced.

"Lily, could you keep your tone down? And how do you know she made the love potion?"

"Because it was supposed to be an anti-love potion, apparently, and only Cai would be stupid enough to make the mistake of trying to make the potion in the first place."

"Oy, you know what Lils? Where in Merlin's name do you get off calling me stupid? I'm smarter than you are!" Cai exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. However, she made the crucial mistake of standing still, and Lily tackled the girl with a shout of triumph.

Remus shook his head. "Cai, you have to remember that you always make that mistake."

She sighed from her spot on the floor. "I know, I know. Lily, could you get off of me?" Lily rose, but kept glaring as Cai settled herself into a more comfortable spot on the floor.

"Cai, I just have to ask. Why were you compelled to help make Sirius an anti-love potion?"

She shrugged. "Well, he said he'd do my Divination homework for two weeks. You know I've run out of untimely deaths for this month."

"Cai…" Lily said threateningly.

"All right, all right. I'll go make an antidote!"

"No!" Everyone yelled, and Lily blocked her path.

"Cai Adrienne Brown," She said coolly, "If you so much even **try** to create an antidote, I'll have James lock you up somewhere in the castle where you can't be found."

Cai raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so only James? Why not Remus, or Sirius, or Peter? Do you just have James on the brain? Do-" She broke off as Lily tackled her again. "Oomph. Off Lily, off!" Stephanie laughed, but helped Remus drag Lily off of Cai.

"Now Cai," Remus asked, "What are you going to do about this problem?"

"Well, dear ol' Remy, I'm going to wait until after Potions on Monday, sneak into the storage closet, grab the ingredients for an antidote-" She stopped as Lily glared at her. "Or I could just ask old Slug-a-roonie about it."

---------------------------------------------

_Okay, so review, por favor!_

_I dunno if I'm allowed to do review responses… cause rules confuzzle me… xD But I'll do them anyway xD_

**FanFictionFantom:** Lol, I love Seinfeld in general xD I was at a party, and there was this guy there who was like, "Heellllooooo!" doing the Seinfeld hello, and I was like "OhEmGee that's seinfeld!" It was great xD

**Some Random Reviewer: **Yeah, the goldfish are still alive… they play a major part later on in the story.

Or not. They may kill Moldy-Voldy for me, I dunno xD

**Trilian225:** Thanks xD Glad you like my based on real-life stories… I only stayed in my friend's closet for 2 hours though… I was bored, and started telling myself Jokes, and she heard me xD

**Crystal tears x:** all right… I'll explain xD

It's Lily/James (Dur xD), Ash/Sirius (Well, sorta… she IS obsessed xD)

Stephanie, as of right now, has no luff… probably someone from Ravenclaw xP DEFINITELY not Petey P. I promised her that I wouldn't pair her with Petey P. xD

And the characters THINK that Cai and REmus should get together, but they won't. They'll just make jokes about it xD

**blue mariposa:** Lol, Sirius was just being… Sirius. It was before the opening feast, and Sirius decided to be nice. So he found this short girl, thought she was a first year, and told her that she must be lost, and then proceeded to bring her to Minnie. Then they found out she was Head Girl xD

**Loofah:** Yay, you read it! Yeah, I'm fixing your part now. It's in this chapter, partially.

**ToRi:** Thanks. She's not telling her friends because she thinks its her fault and doesn't deserve the sympathy… but she's going to tell them soon. It works out xD

_And that's it… so review, por favor! xD_


	9. Love Potions, Robes, Wolverines, Oh my!

_Author's Note: _

_Well, school is interesting. Hope everyone else is having fun xD_

_Disclaimer: I don't own this. I came up with everything you don't recognize from the books. But that's it. Heh._

_And… just read and review xD_

_Oh yeah, I should explain something. If there's a line break, like this: -------------------- followed by a lot of words in italics, followed by another line break, its either a flashback or a dream. So the love potion is happening now. Just to let everyone know._

_And the whole line break/italics/line break/more Italics thing is just showing a time separation in the flashback… sorry if it confuses anyone. _

_------------------------------------------_

Horace Slughorn looked grimly at his NEWT Potions class, front row, as he readied his papers for a lecture.

Stephanie Jones. The girl had a slight tendency to go crazy and add the most random ingredients to a potion. Ashton Fitch. That one had the unfortunate tendency to moon over Black. Sirius Black, the man in question. Had the unfortunate tendency to goof around. Lily Evans. Now there was a nice girl. Quiet, rule-abiding, brilliant potions student… she was going to make something of herself, as long as she stayed away from some of her friends…

"Professor, Professor!" Cai Brown said enthusiastically, and Horace groaned.

"Yes, Miss Brown?" He asked patiently.

"What are we doing in class today?"

"Well, we're-"

"Could we go outside?" He glared at her for interrupting, and Lily elbowed her friend.

"No, Cai," She whispered, "You asked that yesterday and he said no. So stop asking."

"Right," Cai replied loudly, "So, your plans for us, Professor?"

Horace rolled his eyes, but informed them of his plan to lecture on the Aging Potion, before allowing them to try and re-create it themselves.

"Boring!" Cai admonished. Lily looked slightly shocked while the rest of the class, with Slughorn included, rolled their eyes. "Now, Professor, I have a brilliant idea that will shock, amaze, and astound you."

"You do?" Slughorn asked, raising his eyebrows. "Oh, and five points from Gryffindor, as usual."

"Of course," She replied off-handedly. "But I _am_ a genius, after all. I pose a question. What would Lily and/or Remus be able to do if I messed up a potion?"

"Most likely fix it with an antidote. As usual."

She nodded. "Yes, but what if they didn't know how to create the antidote."

"There is hardly a potion that Miss Evans, or Mr. Lupin for that matter, do not know how to remedy."

Cai smiled. "Ah yes, but there is one. Well, probably more, but the first that comes to mind is that illustrious Love Potion, Senor Slughorn. We've never gone over that antidote, sir."

Horace Slughorn pondered the options. Teaching Cai Brown an antidote for a Love Potion was just asking for trouble. Teaching _anyone_ the antidote for a Love Potion was just asking for trouble. However, it could prove useful, for…

All right, maybe he just didn't want to lecture on a potion that almost none of the class would pay attention to. He was the _best_ teacher, after all.

--------------------------------------

Lily looked down yet again at the vial of clear liquid in her hand. "Cai, I can't believe you managed to convince Professor Slughorn to let us make this."

Cai grinned. "Ah, you have many doubts," She scoffed. "But I always come through in the end."

Lily rolled her eyes, but kept look at the vial. "Now, the only question is how are we going to get Alicia to drink this?"

She chuckled. "Leave that to me, fairest flower." Looking at Lily, she asked softly, "Do you want me to not call you that?"

Lily pretended to not know what she was talking about. "Hmm? Excuse me?" Cai sighed, but pulled Lily along to the Gryffindor Common Room, where Alicia was sure to be.

"Oy! Alicia!" She yelled as they entered the room, "Where in Merlin's name are you?"

The girl stood up from her seat, and ran over to them. "What? Why do you need me? Did Sirius ask you to find me?" Cai laughed, and grabbed the vial from Lily's hand.

"Drink this."

"Why?" She inquired. Lily sighed. Trust Cai to just hope that everything would fall into place, and march in here without any sort of plan.

"Er…" Cai looked around the room, as if searching for inspiration, and finally looked back at Alicia. "Petey over there got me this bottle of some drink, and I can't figure out what flavor it is. Could you help me decide?"

Alicia looked at her strangely. "Why don't you just ask Peter?"

"Well… because then he would get offended."

"Well, no offense to him or anything, but I'm not drinking that. You don't know where he's been." Lily heard the portrait door behind them open, and turned to see who it was.

_Of course,_ She thought, _Like it could be anyone else._ A grinning James Potter was looking at her, and beckoning for her to come closer. Turning back to Cai and Alicia, Lily heard that the former was still trying to get the latter to drink the potion. _I've got time._

She walked over to James, who looked questioningly at the two girls.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"You don't want to know," She informed him, and proceeded to watch Cai try and shove the potion down Alicia's throat. "Oh dear," She mused, "Alicia's not going to like that."

Which was true. Once Alicia had managed to wrangle free of Cai's grasp, she proceeded to hit her over the head multiple times.

James laughed. "All right, I won't ask."

Lily smirked. "Why did you want to talk to me?" She inwardly cursed herself, as this would probably prompt a hundred invitations to the Valentine's Day Ball, but James just simply told her,

"Minnie… Professor McGonagall asked me what we were going to do about music for the ball. Seems we left it off the list."

Lily started, and then remembered. "Oh James, because of your stupidity and incompetence-"

"Hey, who are you calling stupid and incompetent?"

Lily glared at him. "Might I remind you of a certain statement spoken by you? 'Wait, we're not talking about pie?'"

James chuckled weakly. "All right, continue. But I just got confused. And I honestly wasn't paying attention. I was staring… out the window!"

She looked at him strangely. "James, there was no window."

"Eh, it was a good try."

"No, it wasn't."

This was threatening to turn into one of the usual arguments by the two, so James tried to get them back on track. He didn't want to be known as the one to ruin the Valentine's Day Ball before it had even begun.

No, he wanted to be known as the one who pranked it. But there is a big difference.

For instance, in the first situation Lily would blame him, and never go out with him.

In the second situation, she would blame Sirius. And himself, but Sirius could cover for him. And there would be a slightly greater chance that Lily would go out with him.

"Lily, about the music?"

"Er… how about…" She proceeded to look around the Common Room, presumably for a bit of inspiration, and James decided to take matters into his own hands.

"How about I just take care of it? I'll find a band, and write up a song list. It's the least I could do after it being my fault that we didn't come up with music in the first place."

She smiled, but winced as she heard a crash from the other side of the room. Looking over, she saw Cai chasing after Alicia. "Sounds great, James, but I'd better go help Cai. I'll talk to you later, all right?" Without waiting for a reply, she caught up to the blonde girl, and succeeded in slowing the other girl down.

"Hey Alicia," She said loudly, and the girl turned to look at her.

"Lily!" Alicia shrieked. "Good thing you're here! Cai started to go crazy, and-"

"Hah!" Cai said triumphantly. "I know how I can get you to drink this." Not paying attention to Lily's groan of dismay, she barreled ahead. "**Sirius** said to drink it. Its his favorite flavor of… drink. Yup."  
Alicia then snatched the bottle out of Cai's hands, and chugged it down.

Cai looked apologetically at both the girls. "Love potions, always react the same."

"Always?" Lily asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Er… well, from what I've heard. And I'm being serious!"

"Sirius?"

"NO!" Lily and Cai shouted. However, the last sentence had come from the man himself, who was trying to hide from Alicia. Cai saw this, and said cheerfully,

"Oh, don't worry about Alicia, I've given her Lily's antidote. She should be right as rain in… well, now. But seeing as Lily is ready to kill me, I'll be vacating the premises. Maybe see James about a quidditch practice." She ignored shouts of, "Cai, there's snow on the ground!" and left the room.

_--------------------------------------------------_

A somewhat angry Cai Brown and a disgruntled James Potter sulked in the Gryffindor Common Room the next Saturday. After a few minutes of poking each other in the shoulders, followed by poking random first years who had the unfortunate luck of sitting near two seventh years on a Hogsmeade weekend, they slouched down in their seats.

"Lily." They both muttered, and started chuckling.

"What did you do this time, Jimmy?" Cai asked him.

James rolled his eyes, both at the nickname and the question. "I pranked a Slytherin, that's what. They deserved it, too! They were a fifth year, so it wasn't like I was picking on a 'poor defenseless first year' again." Noticing Cai getting a bit more annoyed by the fact that James was rambling on and on, he cut it short and sweet.

"Well, to make a long story short, Lily told me I wasn't allowed to go down to Hogsmeade for 'extremely bad behavior'. And she lectured me for at least fifteen minutes on how I should be setting a better example, being Head Boy and all." He smiled. "Like that'll ever change anything."

Cai chuckled. "I got the lecture too. 'Cai, I've known you for years, but this Love Potion was one of the stupidest things you've ever done! Stupider than trying to play quidditch in that blizzard, stupider than trying to become best friends with the Giant Squid when I wouldn't talk to you for a week…' It went on and on. Turns out I've done a lot of stupid things in my life. Who knew?" She shrugged.

James looked curiously at her. "Love Potion? Where was I for all this?"

Cai grinned. "No clue where you were. It's all Sirius' fault, actually."

"Really?"

"Really really." She informed him. "He was getting tired of his fan club, so he asked me to help him to make an anti-love potion."

James raised his eyebrows. "He asked you?"

"I know, but no one else would help him."

"And you thought, 'What the hey? Doesn't matter that in fourth year I blew up the dungeons!'"

"That was fourth year, Jimmy!"

"Cai, you almost blew up the dungeons last week as well."

"Almost, but not quite. There's a difference," She told him proudly. He just rolled his eyes, and motioned for her to continue.

"Well, it all started like this…"

----------------------------------------------

_Sirius Black gracefully fell onto his extremely squashy armchair._

"_My life is over," He uttered dramatically, and everyone around him rolled their eyes._

"_Really, Sirius?" Remus asked, and the raven-haired boy nodded._

"_Really really. It's destroyed. Kaput! I'm going to have to hide in a hole."_

"_Why?" Lily asked._

"_Why? I'll tell you why. **That**." He muttered, pointing across the Common Room to where a group of fifth year girls was standing. _

_They were also pointing to him and giggling, which was what was unnerving._

"_What did they do this time?" Ash asked, sighing. _

"_Asked me for a pair of my boxers." Sirius informed them. "Bet it's for a voodoo doll or something."_

"_Like they'd want to kill you," Stephanie told him._

"_No, but they would want him to fall in love with them," Peter put in._

_Cai tripping over the edge of the carpet on her way from the floor to a chair put a halt to their conversation, but it was quickly restarted when one of the girls held up something that looked like a T-shirt._

_With Sirius' face on it._

"_See!" He cried out. "It's terrible!"_

_After a few minutes, Ash muttered, "Well, it's a good thing Love Potions aren't allowed at Hogwarts. Otherwise you'd only be able to eat in the kitchens."_

_Sirius started. "Kitchens? Ashey, you're a genius!"_

_She looked a bit confused. "What, are you going to only eat in the kitchens from now on? Because, just so you know, the rest of us are going to eat in the Great Hall." Ash looked at Peter, who had just ambled out of the portrait. "Well, most of us will still eat in the Great Hall. Peter might go to the kitchens with you."_

"_As if," Sirius scoffed. "No, the kitchens made me think of Herbology. Which made me think of Transfiguration. Which made me think of Minnie, which made me think of essays. Which made me think of detention, for not writing said essays. Which made me think of Slughorn. Which made me think of the kitchens, again, but then made me think of Potions. And then, I decided to become a genius."_

_The rest of the group looked at him blankly._

"_I'm going to make an **anti-**love potion!"_

_Stephanie put her hand to his forehead. "Do you have a fever?"_

"_Nope, I'm absolutely spiffing. But it's genius!"_

"_What, making an anti-love potion?"_

"_Of course!" Sirius insisted. "They won't hate me… they just won't love me! I am so smart! S-M-R-T!"_

"_Uh, Sirius, smart is spelled with an 'A'." Remus informed him._

"_Didn't I say that?"_

"_No." The group duly reported.  
After a few moments, Stephanie asked, "Why didn't Ash saying 'Love Potion' make you think of an anti-love potion?"_

_He shrugged. "Who knows? My mind is a very scary place. So, does anyone-"_

_Ash immediately stood up. "Sirius, let me be the first to say that I despise most of your fan club, and wish they would disband or something, but I'm not helping you with them. Again. My parents are still mad about last time."_

"_But Ashey, I swear the nifflers weren't supposed to get into Minnie's jewelry box!"_

"_And the Doxies?"_

"_A complete accident! How was I to know they would like the draperies in the Divination classroom?"_

"_What about the-"_

"_We get your point, Ash," Remus informed her. "Continue with your refusal to help."  
"Certainly, Remus. I'm out." With that, she went up to her dormitory, quickly followed by Stephanie._

"_Sorry, Sirius, but no dice."_

"_Lillers?"_

"_Nope."_

"_Remmy?"_

"_No way."_

"_Fine!" He said with a huff, and buried his face in a pillow. "I hope you all enjoy my suffering," He informed them, his voice slightly muffled. "I'll **die**, and you'll be dancing around eating cake."_

"_Apple pie, actually. Which reminds me, I've got a Charms essay to do."_

_Lily looked at him strangely. "Sometimes I believe you've been hanging out with Sirius for too long." Remus grinned, and then got up to go to the library. "Wait for me, though. I've got to finish my Defense Against the Dark Arts essay, and you would be a lot of help." As they left, Sirius proposed his question to the only other seventh year occupant left in the Common Room._

"_Hey Cai…"_

_---------------_

"_Honestly, I feel like one of those witches in those muggle films," Cai said, peering over a smoking cauldron. _

"_They make movies about us?" Sirius asked._

"_Yes," She sighed, "If you had paid any attention in Muggle Studies…"_

"_You didn't pay attention either," He pointed out.  
"You're right," Cai said cheerfully. "Remmy told me. But I can't believe that the potion was in the book!" She pointed to a soot-covered page in a greatly abused Potions textbook._

_Besides its general occupation as a textbook, it was also used as a shield (hence the soot), a pillow, a weapon, a quaffle, a table, and… well, its uses were endless. _

"_I know, we're really lucky that it was right there," Sirius said excitedly. "When you threw the book at the wall, it just fell open to the page!"_

_Cai grinned. "We're just two lucky geniuses, aren't we?" After a moment, the two started laughing. "We should probably stir the potion now, or something to that effect." She peered at the page. "If you can read through the soot, I think it says to stir clockwise three times."_

_-------------------------------------------------_

"Why didn't you just use _Scourgify_?" James asked. Cai shrugged.

"Didn't think of that. But on another matter… I got a Potion right!" James chuckled, and then remembered something.

"Oy, I've been daft. Stay right here, and we'll be at Hogsmeade in a jiffy." He ran up to the seventh year boy's dormitory, and came back down a few minutes later carrying a piece of parchment and something slightly silvery in his hands.

"Voila!" James told her. "Let's go."

---------------------------

Lily sighed as they wandered through what seemed to be endless rows of dress robes. Sirius had dragged off Peter and Remus to Honeydukes and Zonkos, while the remaining girls were looking for robes to wear to the Valentine's Day Ball.

"How about pink?" Ash asked Stephanie, and the latter grimaced.

"Too cliché. How about lime green?"

She sighed again. _I really shouldn't have told Cai and James to stay in the castle. Knowing Cai, she ripped a hole in her old robes, and James probably forgot his robes at home._ She started. _James? When did he come into my thoughts?_

**_When you decided you loved him_,** A voice answered.

_Shut up!_ She replied. _I do not-_

"Hey Lily, what do you think of these ones?" Ash interrupted her thoughts, holding out a gold colored robe.

"Well-"

This time someone calling her name interrupted her.

"Lily! Lily Evans!"

"Oh no," She groaned softly, "Don't tell me it's James."

"It's not," Stephanie said.

"Well, honestly, you don't have to lie. James," She started to yell, but when she turned around she was surprised to see someone about her height, with blonde hair perfectly spelled in place, instead of someone a great deal taller than her, with black messy hair.

"Hullo, Lily," The boy said.  
"Er… Hello?" Lily somewhat asked, a bit hesitantly. Looking over at Stephanie and Ash, she mouthed 'Who is he?' They both shrugged in reply, and Lily turned back to the boy, who was now shaking her hand enthusiastically.

"I'm Gilderoy. Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Oh," Lily said unenthusiastically. "That's great. Um…"

"You're probably wondering why I came to talk to you, correct?" Lily smiled.

"Yes, actually, I was. You see-"

"Well, I'll tell you," Gilderoy said, ignoring the fact that Lily was trying to speak. "It all started over the summer, but you wouldn't want to hear about that. To make a very long story short, would you go to the Valentine's Day Ball with me?"

Lily froze. After a few moments, she spoke. "Er, listen, Gilderoy, I'm really sorry, but-"

"All right, so I'll meet you at seven at the Ball?" He eyed the robes in her hand. "Look, I'm wearing forget-me-not-blue. You might want to put that gold set back and go get a pair to match."

"But-"

"It's all right. Sometimes girls just need a little push in the right direction. It's fine. Oh, this is going to be so much fun."

It seemed as if Gilderoy was not listening to her.

"Excuse me, but who do you think you are?"

"Gilderoy Lockhart, Hufflepuff Fifth Year," He said, cocking his head to the side. "I already thought we went over that. Oh, and don't wear those shoes. Here, if you come with me we can find you a nice set of robes, some jewelry, and a great pair of shoes to match my outfit…" He babbled on and on, and Lily looked helplessly at Ash and Stephanie.

_Great friends I have,_ she thought, as she saw the two girls laughing so hard they were almost falling over.

"Lily? Lily? Have you head a word I said?"

She snapped back to the conversation at hand.

"Look, Gilderoy, I hate to say this, but-"

"Don't worry, Lily, I'm honored to take you to the ball. It'll be a lot of fun!"

Lily was practically seething. "Look, I don't want to be rude, but-"

"Oh, you want to know how my summer went? Absolutely spiffing. In fact, I'll tell you the entire story. You see, my mother has a brother who lives in Alaska- dreadful place, really. Very cold. But I was staying there for a month or so-"

"You see, I can't-"

"And then there was a wolverine attack!"

"I really don't want to-"

"And so I spent my entire vacation with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines."

"Did you-"

"Did I kill any? Of course! They kept trying to attack my cousins, what would you do in a situation like that?"

"SHUT UP!" Lily finally bellowed. Seeing that she had Gilderoy's attention, she took the initiative. "Look, Gilderoy, you're a great guy and all, but-"

"I know, aren't I amazing?"

"Would you shut up and listen to me? I don't want to go to the ball with you."

"Well, of course you do!"

She grimaced. "Nope, don't want to."

"But-"

"Sorry Gilderoy, but no." Lily then turned to walk away.

"But you didn't hear about the time I helped Sir Godfrey-"

Ash and Stephanie at this point were lying on the ground, gasping for air amidst hundreds of robes. Lily glared at them, but helped them up before walking out the door.

"Lily-"

"SHUT UP!" She bellowed, but it turned out this time to be a person she had banished to the far reaches of Alaska.

Or just the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Cai! James!" She said happily, and took their arms, nearly dragging them to Honeydukes, ignoring faint calls of 'Lily!' from a very confused Hufflepuff.

-----------------

_So… yet another chapter xD_

_Anything you recognize from **Napoleon Dynamite**… not mine xD_

_Only four reviews? –tear-_

**FanFictionFantom: **The love potion thing is happening now… hence most of this chapter xD Don't worry, a few people were confused about that.

**Ashey: **Yup, no excuse whatsoever.

And now that I've written another chapter… you need to work doubly hard on Felix! –cackles maniacally- Muhahaha… I'll shut up now xD

But… Gilderpoleon! xD

**Tuttleh:** Lol, yay xD And I won't put you with the rat. Scouts honor.

Course, I was never a scout… but let's just go with the flow, aight? xD

**Tantan:** I know! What _is_ a fanfic without Sirius? A bad one, at best xP Just kidding, everyone who didn't put Sirius in their fics xD Lily will tell her everyone about her parents soon… and I'm not sure if she'll go to the wedding or not. But the wedding will be after they graduate, to let everyone know xD

_So… that's it! Review, please!_


	10. Snogs, Bands, Le Freak, what else?

_Please read and review! xD_

_Disclaimer: Do I have to say this again? Well, let's put a spin on things._

_If I owned the HP characters included in this story, then **I** would be the one living in a castle. Just to clear some things up xD_

_And I'm sooooo sorry for this taking forever! _

_And a quick reminder... the - - - - stands for a break... time, place, whatever... yeah xD_

_-------------------------------_

James sat very comfortably in the Head's Common Room. His feet propped up on the coffee table, mug of Butterbeer on a coaster, for Lily had a fit the last time she saw a watermark on the mahogany table, no matter how many times James insisted that magic could repair it in no time; the only problem in his life was the fact that he was trying to avoid the hordes of girls trying to get him to be their date for the Valentine's Day Ball.

Oh, and that pesky little problem called Voldemort. And the fact that Lily most likely blamed herself for her parent's deaths. He would really have to talk to Cai about that one.

But yes, at the moment, James' only problem was surviving until he could get Lily to go with him to the ball.

Of course, he only had a week to accomplish this task, but hey, anything's possible.

But then thinking about going to the Ball with Lily prompted him to think of his responsibilities for this ball.

Oh yeah, they include that pesky little detail of finding a band to play.

"Oh damn…"

------------

A very frantic James Potter ran through the hallways, dodging students in his mad dash to get to the Gryffindor Common Room and his friends.

His friends, who could find a way to help him get out of his predicament. For Lily, in a stroke of genius, had informed him that he must get a band at least three weeks before the ball, else wise they would be booked up solid.

Damn.

In his hurry, he almost knocked down a group of second years, but managed to right himself and continue on his way, looking for Sirius, Remus, Peter, or anyone of his other friends.

"Stephie!" He yelled, and the girl stopped walking and turned around slowly.

"What now, James?" She asked hesitantly. "Did Lily hex you again? Because I got in trouble for helping you last time. And you know I hate that nickname."

He shook his head. "No, no. I just…need… to find… Remus or Sirius," He nearly panted. "Or Peter," He added as an afterthought, trying to catch his breath. Running through a castle, up and down floors, can really knock the wind out of a person.

Stephanie looked at him quizzically. "Did you forget something for the ball?"

"No…" He said hesitantly, and she rolled her eyes.

"Well, that was a stupid question to ask when one already knows the answer," She said, referring to both his previous question as well as her own. "They're probably up in the dorm, or at the kitchens."

"Thanks Stephie!" He said hurriedly ignoring her glare, before barreling up the stairs, knocking little children out of the way.

-----------------------

James was still continuing his search an hour later when he ran into Lily.

"James!" She said excitedly. "I've been looking for you for forever!"

"You have?" He asked skeptically, forgetting the reason for his search in lieu of the fact that Lily was actually searching him out.

Lily nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. You see…" She trailed off as someone wandered around the corner, and hid behind James with a squeak. "Don't move…" She muttered, but it was too late. The damage was done.

"Oh dearest Lillian!" The boy shouted, and Lily sighed.

"Isn't your name Lily?" James asked quizzically, and Lily nodded before burying her head in James' shoulder.

"Don't come over here. Don't come over here. Don't-"

"Lillian!" Gilderoy shouted again. "Don't run away from me like that again. Because I'll find you!" He finished this sentence in what he thought to be a flirtatious tone, but was really just giving everyone within hearing range the shivers.

"Lily?" James asked, but was interrupted by the hand that was shoved into his face.

"Gilderoy Lockheart," He said, "Pleased to meet you. If you could unhand my girlfriend…" To say James' face merely resembled a goldfish would be a great understatement.

"Girl- girlfriend?" He stuttered, and Gilderoy nodded while Lily shook her head empathetically.

"Excuse me, Gilderoy, but James and I were having a conversation." When he didn't leave, just nodded, she continued. "We were trying to speak privately. Alone." All the while Gilderoy just nodded.

"Without _you_," James added, and Gilderoy finally got the message.

"Oh, well then," He said slowly. "I guess I'll just… just wait over here in the corner. Don't be too long, fairest Lillian." With a wave, he sauntered off to the corner, fixing his hair in the reflection of a suit of armor.

James took one more look at the boy before dissolving into laughter. Lily just mock-glared at him, before sighing and burying her face in his shoulder again. Amidst his chortling, James could hear Lily say,

"I know, I know. He's a stupid prat."

"A stupid prat? No, he's not just a stupid prat," He informed her quietly. "He just doesn't have common sense. I mean, honestly, no guy ever thinks to even try and date you because he knows that he'll have to deal with me and…" James trailed off, fearful about what Lily would say to this, but he needn't have worried.

"James," She said thoughtfully, an evil glint in her eyes, "What exactly do you do to my potential date material?"

James gulped. "Er… well, it was all Sirius' idea really… involves bright lights, a pink tutu, and _Le Freak_… but don't worry, we haven't well, attacked any of your dates for awhile now." Lily grinned.

"What could I do to persuade you to… dissuade Gilderoy from ever coming near me again?" James pondered it for a few moments, causing Lily to be afraid of a date proposal, but all he said was,

"Kiss me."

She looked at him, a bit shocked that he wouldn't ask for a date, but shrugged.

"All right, I guess," Lily said, and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. However, James shook his head.

"Nuh uh, Miss Evans. A kiss right here," He informed her quietly, and tapped his lips. She rolled her eyes, and hesitantly leaned forward.

_I'm only doing this to get rid of Lockheart_, she told herself. _Only to get rid of Lockheart. Onl_y _to-_

_Oh, shut up and kiss him already_, the voice in her head said. _You know you want to._

Lily stopped in her tracks, her lips pretty darn close to James', and murmured, "You do know I'm only doing this to get rid of him," jerking her head slightly in Gilderoy's direction, moving herself away from James a bit.

"Of course," James replied, and leaned in once more.

_I'm finally going to kiss her!_ He thought.

_Yeah right,_ a voice in his head told him. _She's only kissing you so she can get rid of her psychotic stalker boyfriend. What would you do in a situation like that?_

_Shut up._

He leaned in again, getting closer and closer towards Lily, thinking very happy thoughts. In his mind's eye, little children with black hair and green eyes, as well as children with red hair and brown eyes, were skipping through a field of flowers on their way to the Quidditch World Cup. Very happy thou-

"Hey, Lily!" Mary Thomas interrupted.

"Hi Mary," Lily replied, albeit a bit weakly. She sent a smile in James' direction, before turning to her friend.

"So Lily," Mary said, "It seems like you've been really busy lately." She raised her eyebrows and gave a slight nod in James' direction, making him wonder if Mary was wondering why Lily was spending so much time with her former enemy, his glorious self, or if she wanted to just have a girl talk.

His question was answered when Mary continued.

"I mean, ever since the holidays you've been actually nice to Potter."

James smiled. "Thanks for the support," He said sarcastically. Throughout it all, Mary was the one person who hated James, Slytherins withstanding.

Come to think of it, she seemed to despise Cai, Ash, and Stephanie as well, along with the rest of the Marauders.

Could have been due to that prank they played on her in last year. Who knew?

"You're welcome," She replied, and made James wonder why Lily became friends with her in the first place, or at least stayed friends with her over the years.

Coincidentally, Lily was thinking the same thing.

"Anyway, I was wondering if we could have a chat."

So it was the girl talk option, as well.

"Er…" Lily said slowly, "Well, can I just finished up my conversation with James first?"

Mary pushed back her reddish-brown hair. "See Lily, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. You're calling him James."

"So, what's wrong with that? We're friends."

"Friends? Friends! Two months ago, you couldn't stand the guy, and now you're hanging around him all the time. Honestly, I don't know what's wrong with you."

"I am right here, you know," James huffed. Lily turned to him, giving a pleading look to stay silent, but Mary barreled on.

"And you're always hanging around with _them_," She hissed, "When you know I can't possibly abide them, and furthermore I know Potter was in our dormitory and you didn't bother to think that none of us want him there, and-"

James cut her off by saying quietly, "Well, I can see that this doesn't totally involve me, so I'm just gonna go…" He trailed off as Lily grasped his arm, nearly cutting off the circulation to his hand.

"No, James, you are going to stay here."

Mary glared at her. "No, I think he should go."

"Stay."

"Go."

"Stay."

"Go."

They continued the bickering, reminding James of a pair of chickens that used to inhabit his home, and as Lily slowly relaxed her grip on his arm James slunk away until he was leaning against the wall, ready to interfere if it turned ugly.

Which it did a few minutes later.

"Well, I can see that this talk did us no good," Mary said matter-of-factly. Lily grimaced.

"Well, if you just hadn't kept putting me in the middle of your fight-"

"The middle of our fight?" Mary shrieked. "The middle of our fight! You agreed with me, Lily Evans. And don't forget it! You thought that he was being a prick, and-"

"And you didn't let me get a word in edgewise, and because of that you've been mad at people who had been your friends for years."

"Excuse me, but not my friends. They were always your friends and yours only. Bloody waste of time, if you ask me. They're not civilized. They're horrible, mean, destructive-"

"Why thank you, thank you very much!" A new voice broke in, that James recognized as Cai. "I just love to get amazing compliments!" The crowd that had gathered around them tittered nervously, for this could lead to various end results.

Mary narrowed her eyes. "Oh, so you like being insulted? Well, just like a Brown. They wouldn't know the difference between a sheep and a cow."

Cai smirked. "Oh, no really… I think I can tell the difference. You see," here she pointed her wand at Gilderoy, "There's a sheep," after a small pop a sheep appeared where Gilderoy had been, "And you're a cow." She finished her sentence by transfiguring Mary. This caused the entire group located in the hallway to burst out into laughter, including Lily, who was trying to hold back giggles. The cow Mary mooed angrily at the students and this act heralded the arrival of a teacher.

"What's going on?" Professor McGonagall asked imperiously, looking at James first.

"Hey, for once in my life," He told her, "This wasn't my doing!"

She looked at him suspiciously, but then turned to Lily, who was snickering quietly.

"Miss Evans?" She implored, and Lily just shook for a second before managing to say,

"You should probably ask Cai about this one."

Professor McGonagall looked at Cai in what could be deemed shock. While Cai showed ineptness at Potions, she was all right at Transfiguration, but hadn't previously been able to sustain a human to animal transfiguration for more than a few seconds.

"Miss Brown?" She asked hesitantly, and Cai grinned.

"Cheers, Professor!" Cai said loudly. "Managed to finally hold the transfiguration, very beautifully if I do say so myself."

"Miss Brown-"

"And would you look! They match their personalities perfectly!"

"Miss Brown-"

"You see, Gil here is baaaaahd," She chuckled at her own pun. "And Mary is a-"

"Miss Brown!" Professor McGonagall interrupted. "Thirty points from Gryffindor, and come with me to the Headmaster's office." She ignored the collective,

"Oooh, Cai's in trouble!" From the crowd, and propelled Cai, who was waving cheerfully, in the direction of Dumbledore's office.

"Miss Evans," She said as an afterthought, "Would you please sort out Mister Lockheart and Miss Thomas. And then would you please help them to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey can calm them down."

"Of course," Lily replied to McGonagall's back, and turned to Gilderoy and Mary to change them back. After they were transfigured back into their human forms, she instructed the two fifth year Hufflepuff prefects in attendance to escort them to the Hospital Wing, and walked with James to the Gryffindor Common Room to wait for Cai's return.

- - - -

"I cannot believe you did this, Miss Brown," McGonagall admonished. "Transfiguring students in the hallways… I would leave that to Misters Potter or Black, but never you. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Maybe I should have transfigured Linda into a parrot," Cai said, dissolving into giggles as she referred to a seventh year Hufflepuff.

Professor McGonagall huffed with anger and propelled Cai up the revolving staircase, double-time, into Dumbledore's office.

"Why Miss Brown!" He said cheerfully, "What brings you here?"

"Hullo Professor!" She replied, but Professor McGonagall answered for her.

"Miss Brown was caught transfiguring two students in the fourth floor corridor, Albus," She said solemly. "Mister Lockheart and Miss Thomas are completely shaken from this event-"

"Bullocks," Cai admonished. "Pardon my French, but you didn't see their reactions at all. I rather do say they were enjoying it." To say McGonagall looked shocked would have been an understatement, but Dumbledore was trying to refrain from laughing.

"Ah, I see. Minerva, if you would excuse us?" He grasped Cai's elbow and walked with her out the door, and McGonagall could hear him say,

"Lovely bit of Transfiguration Miss Brown, but lets refrain from testing our abilities out on the students. Ah, I say, I just had a lovely letter sent to me from your Grandmother. She seems fine, and inquires as to if you will be at home for the Easter holiday break…"

- - - -

A cheerful Cai tripped over the portrait hole as she entered the Gryffindor Common Room, to find the entire gang waiting for her. As Lily turned her attention on the blonde, she paled slightly.

"Why, hullo Lils!" She said, edging towards her dormitory. "Fancy seeing you here…" Nodding to James, she ran for the staircase to the girls dormitories, but Lily slipped out of James' grasp and tackled her.

"Not so fast Cai! It was hillarious-"

"Glad to hear you think so!"

"But it was against the rules!"

"Well of course it was. Wouldn't have been much fun, otherwise, donchya know."

Sirius snickered, and as Lily turned her glare on him, Cai fruitlessly tried to escape again.

"Come on, Cai," Lily said, "We're going to go to my room, and have a nice chat on **why** you should follow the rules."

"Brill, Lils!" Cai said cheerfully. "I think we should bring the rest of the gang. They break the rules more than I do, anyway."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Ash and Steph can come, but I'm not going to give a rules discussion with Sirius in the room."

He grinned, and waved bashfully at the girls, ignoring their glares as they were dragged out.

"So, Jim-bob, you said you needed to talk to us?"

- - - -

A weary Cai trudged through the Gryffindor Common Room a few hours later. The room itself was dark, with the only light being from the crackling fire, and she decided to spend a bit of time down here instead of going all the way up to the dormitory. She vaulted over the sofa back, and jumped down onto-

"Remmy?" She shrieked as she landed on top of him, noses only inches apart.

"Hullo Cai," He replied quietly, and started to laugh as someone else's head appeared over Cai's shoulder.

"Why hullo Cai and Rem-rem," Sirius said, "Having a bit of alone time?" He started to laugh, and ended up collapsing on both of them.

"Help me!" Cai yelled, and James woke up from his position in an armchair by the fireplace, and Peter nearly fell off of the coffee table.

"Wha…" Peter said sleepily, and rolled over before muttering, "Five more minutes, mum. I'll go feed the cat later."

James on the other hand, started laughing as he saw Cai squished between Remus and Sirius. Or more like Remus being suffocated as Cai and Sirius squished him. Either way the situation was funny.

He rolled Sirius off of them, and then helped Cai up with a grin. He was about to speak, when something hit the window.

Turning around, he noticed a dark shape hovering outside of the now closed window.

"Okay," He said, somewhat annoyed. "Which one of you gits closed the window? Especially when you all knew I was expecting an owl." He looked around at the other three boys, and decided it must have been Peter. Silly boy. But instead of waking him up, James just went over to the window and opened it carefully, quickly grabbing the owl that was flying around dizzily. Opening the piece of parchment that was tied to its leg, James scanned it as the owl flew off, quite disgruntled.

With a huff, James threw the letter on the coffee table, effectively waking up Peter as it hit him in the head, and then threw himself onto the sofa, crushing Remus in the process. Again.

"What is with you people and sitting on me?" Remus groaned, pushing James off of him and sitting up. "Honestly."

Cai and Sirius grinned, but James remained stoically quiet.

"Aw, Jim-bob-" Sirius said.

"What's the matter?" Cai continued. They looked at each other, and started laughing. "Is it a problem with Lily?"

"Yes," James answered slowly.

"Oooh, interesting!" Cai said loudly, and James motioned for her to keep her voice down.

"Well, not necessarily with Lily herself…"

"Honestly," Remus said again. "Cai, he was expecting an owl from his neighbor about the… music." He finished, looking at her.

"Hah," She said, "You just remembered about the music? Smooth James, smooth." He grimaced, and then turned to Sirius, Remus, and the now-awake Peter.

"Marc says that he can play for the second half of the ball, but we're on our own for the first half. He has to go out to dinner with his girlfriend." Remus groaned while Sirius laughed, and then poked Peter in order for him to stay awake.

"Tough luck, man," Remus told him. "But if you had just remembered earlier-" He broke off as Cai started chuckling.

"What's so funny?" James asked coolly.

Cai smirked. "Honestly James, for being Head Boy, you don't know anything about your fellow students. Even your fellow housemates."

"What, does Peter have an innate talent for playing the guitar or singing?"

"No," She said slowly, "But I know someone who does."

"Well, who?" James said loudly, ignoring his previous advice for Cai to quiet down. "I need to talk to them, and see if they'll be ready in a week."

"Well, Gil can play a pretty mean jazz flute, but he's in Hufflepuff…" At James' glare, she chuckled again. "Just wanted to see your reaction, Jimmy. And I might not have some innate talent at playing the guitar, but I can sing all right, and I know a spell to use for the rest."

"You mean that there's a spell to create instruments out of thin air that play themselves?" Peter asked excitedly.

Cai looked at him strangely. "Well, maybe," She told him, "But I know one that can make **us** play it."

"Us?" James asked. "What do you mean by us?"

"Us," Cai replied simply. "I'm playing with you guys, duh. I want at least some of the credit for saving the Valentine's Day Ball from utter destruction. Oh, and for saving your life from complete and utter destruction a la Lily," She added as an afterthought.

- - - -

"Why are we here, Cai?" James asked slowly. She grinned.

"Look, I might be stupid enough to transfigure people in the middle of the hallways, **and** in the middle of the school day, and I might be stupid enough volunteer my services in this venture, but I'm **not** stupid enough to have you lot try out the spell and play in the middle of the common room, when everyone has gone to bed." The boys shrugged at this, for it made sense, and sat down in a circle.

The boys each went, each getting a different instrument created by the room. Remus, a keyboard, Sirius, a set of drums (Which he immediately started playing, cause the rest of the group to perform a silencing charm around him), James, an electric guitar, and Peter…

"Honestly Pete," Sirius said once the silencing charm around him had been removed, "We've figured out you can't sing, play guitar, or anything to that extent."

Cai seemed to think for a few minutes, before brightening up. "Hah! I know how to get you involved!"

Peter Pettigrew stood quietly a few minutes later, practicing with the 'band'.

"And so then James strums the guitar now, and Sirius, do a drumroll, and then Remmy'll strike a chord, and Petey-"

Peter solemnly hit the triangle.

"Brilliant!"

- - - -

James grinned as he dug into his breakfast the next morning. He'd managed to take care of everything he was supposed to, without screwing up.

Well, without screwing up majorly. He did screw up. But at least he fixed the problem. With the help of the guys and Cai. Well, we'll just forget that tidbit of information.

"Hey James," Lily said as she settled herself next to him, and grabbed two pieces of toast.

"Good morning, Lillers!" He crowed, and she looked at him suspiciously as she started to put the toast back.

"You didn't prank the breakfast, or anything, did you?"

"Nope!" He said cheerfully, and she seemed to change her mind about the toast, grabbing another piece as well before putting the three on her plate.

"Then why are you so happy?"

"Aren't I allowed to be happy?" He asked around a mouthful of bacon. "But I'll tell you why, anyway. I got a response back from a band, and they'll definitely play at the ball for us," He carefully omitted the part that they would only be available for the second half.

"Brilliant!" Lily said, nearly jumping up and down before she remembered that she was eating breakfast, and just grinned instead. "That's great! We'll have to arrange a time for them to come and get checked out by Professor Dumbledore… if the ball starts at seven, then they'll need time to set up and warm up, so maybe around four or five…" She trailed off in thought, and James grimaced.

"How 'bout I handle that part, Lils. All right?" She smiled.

"You're just making this ball completely easy for me."

_Yeah, completely easy,_ James thought to himself.

"Now, just one thing remains." She looked around the Great Hall, and then whispered, "I have to get rid of Gilderoy."

James grinned cheekily. "Of course, but I need payment for the job, as you must remember…"

"James!" Lily whined, "Not here!"

"Fine," He huffed, but was still grinning. "I'll take my payment, in full, when I complete the job. Kepeesh?"

She smiled shyly. "All right, James," Lily told him, and went back to eating. James got up, shoved a piece of toast in his mouth before ruffling her hair and going off to find Sirius and then Gilderoy.

- - - -

"So, Gilly," Sirius said conversationally, "Do you know why we have invited you to this meeting?"

Gilderoy looked hesitantly around the very small broom closet.

"No…" He replied slowly.

"Well, we'll tell you," Sirius informed him. He stopped there, as if waiting for James to continue, but when James didn't he elbowed the slightly shorter, messy-haired boy.

"What?" James asked, knocked out of his day dream.

"**I said**," Sirius repeated, "We're going to tell Gilly about why we invited him here."

"All right," James said, "Go ahead." Sirius rolled his eyes, before continuing.

"We brought you here to…"

- - - -

"Ask you to come with me to the Ball," He said slowly. Lily blushed.

_He is nice,_ She thought.

_But what about James?_ The voice in her head asked.

_Maybe this way I'll get over him_, She argued.

_Pfft. You're just in denial. Go ahead, agree to go with him, but you'll be miserable. And you'll break James' heart, just to inform you. _

_No I won't,_ Lily argued.

"All right, I'll go with you," She replied out loud, smiling shyly.

"Oh, that's excellent! So… I'll see you later?" He smiled back, and with a kiss on the cheek he walked away.

Lily smiled, but that facial expression turned into a frown as she realized that even a kiss on a cheek from one of the most handsome guys in school didn't compare to having James standing next to her. James…

- - - -

"… are you even listening to me?" Sirius asked.

"Of course I am, Sirius," He replied. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Of course I am, Sirius," He mimicked. "Honestly, pull yourself together man! We're committing acts of… well, not necessarily treason…" After thinking for a few minutes, he shouted out, "We're saving Lily! The damsel in distress!"

"And what do I keep telling you chaps?" The long forgotten Gilderoy asked. "Her name is Lillian!"

The boys looked at him quizzically, before breaking out into laughter.

"Man, where did Lily get this one?" Sirius asked.

"How should I know?" James replied, "I think it was when she had 'grounded me' and restricted me and Cai to the Common Room…"

"Uh, excuse me?" Gilderoy said loudly. "But I demand that you let me go."

"Oh, you **demand**, now don't you?" Sirius said, his short attention span once again returned to Gilderoy.

"Well that's peachy," James added, "But I don't think so. You see-"

Here, Sirius tried to menacingly crack his knuckles, but all that seemed to happen was that he nearly broke his finger.

"-Nice job, Sirius. As I was saying… we're going to dissuade you from ever again pursuing Lily Evans…"

About thirty minutes later, an extremely frightened Gilderoy Lockheart ran out of the broom closet, wearing a pink tutu.

Sirius started cackling maniacally as he danced around the room to the music, which was still playing.

"I just don't understand why everyone hates this song!" He yelled, singing along to the music. "Ahhh, Freak Out! Le Freak, C'est Chic, Freak Out!"

James just looked at him cautiously. "All right, Sirius, you can finish up in here… I'll make sure to go tell Ash about your obsession with this song… actually, I'll go tell the whole school…"

With a quick wave of his wand, the music had shut off and Sirius was out the door.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" He said, motioning for James to follow him. "I've been ready for ages!"

- - - -

Stephanie chuckled as she looked through her 'book' again in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Ah, classic Python," She murmured, but shut the 'book' and put in back in her bag. She needed to save some of the episodes for History of Magic, or else she might resort to amusing herself by poking Sirius and pretending it was Peter who did it.

"Why, Lils?" She heard James ask, and sunk lower into the armchair. Not to overhear their conversation, oh no… well, maybe just a little bit. It was more to avoid a classic argument that could arise if she was found to be there. Stephanie remembered one time, when…

"I'm really sorry, James," She heard Lily reply, and cut off her previous thoughts.

_What does Lily have to be sorry about? And why are they talking in the common room, when they're both going to have to turn about and go to their rooms? _She wondered.

"Never mind, Lils, it's all right. It's your decision. It's just…"

"Just what?"

"Just that while I was helping you get rid of one boyfriend, you get another."

"He's not my boyfriend, James, he's just my date to the dance."

"And I presume for the Hogsmeade visit this weekend, too?"

"Maybe," Lily replied quietly, "I'll see how things go."

Stephanie heard James sigh.

"I'm sorry I got a bit upset," He replied after a few minutes.

"And I'm sorry that it seems like I'm going out with any guy who asks me," Lily told him. "But in my defense, the idea was just sort of sprung on me."

Both she and James chuckled quietly, and Lily added, teasingly,

"And it's not like I've had much practice turning guys down, what with you and Sirius chasing them all away."

Stephanie could sense James' sheepish grin.

"Have I ever told you I'm sorry about not letting you have a boyfriend?"

Peeking over the edge of the chair, she saw Lily wave off the comment.

"Nah, it's all right. Well, not really, but you and Sirius saved me from a lot of heartbreak." She stifled a yawn, and murmured, "I'd better go to sleep now." Stephanie watched as she hugged James, and then started to move up the girl's dormitories staircase.

"Uh, Flower, hate to tell you this, but your room is in the opposite direction." Lily turned to look at him and blanked for a few seconds, before forcing a smile onto her face.

"Of course it is…" She murmured. "I must be more tired than I though. G'nite, Jimmy," She added wickedly, and ignoring his protests that his name was James and not any of the various nicknames bestowed on him, left the room.

Stephanie expected James to shake his head, and leave right after Lily. However, what she was not expecting was James coming right up to her and saying,

"You can come out now, Steph."

She grinned sheepishly, and knelt on the chair.

"What's up, James?" She asked.

Without responding to her question, he asked, "You noticed that, right? The pause. I mean, I've noticed, and if one of her friends hasn't-"

"I've noticed too, James," Stephanie told him. "So has Ash. And I bet Cai as well, although she hasn't made mention of it." Looking at him more closely, she asked, "You know why, don't you?" He shrugged.

"I know what happened… but I'm not sure if it's my place to say. And I don't want to bother Lily about it, especially now, right before the ball. " Stephanie grimaced. That meant it was bad.

"After the ball, then," She told him. "We'll give it a few days, and then we'll go talk to her. All of us together." James smiled.

"Sounds like a plan. She needs to get everything out into the open, but she probably blames- Whoops." He smiled, ruffled Stephanie's hair, and went to leave the common room. "I've said too much, Stephie. I'll see you tomorrow, all right?" She smiled, and went up to her dormitory, while James opened the portrait of the Fat Lady, and, looking about carefully, made his way to his room.

- - - -

"Good morning, Gryffindor tower!" Sirius shouted excitedly at six A.M., Friday morning (Otherwise known as Valentine's Day).

Hearing him, most of the tower groaned. However, Cai bounced excitedly down the stairs, tripping over quite a few and falling down the last fifteen, blonde ponytail bouncing all the way.

"Sirius-birius!" She shouted in response, "It's the best day in the whole entire world! Better than Christmas! Better than Birthdays! Better than… well, nothing's better than Halloween. But it's better than Easter!"

He grabbed her hands and they danced in a circle, jumping up and down.

"Snog-day!" They bellowed together, and kept jumping, waiting for their first victim… I mean, student to come down from their dormitory to complain about the noise.

Sure enough, a shy little second year boy came down the staircase from his dormitory, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"I say, what's go-" He was cut off as Cai picked him up and kissed him.

"Hah!" She and Sirius shouted exuberantly. "You've been snogged!" They kept dancing as the second year made his way back to his dorm, presumably to either tell his dorm mates that he was kissed by a seventh year, or to tell them to avoid the school for the day for there was crazy students running about; however, he did not notice the pale pink glow about his head.

p At lunch, nearly everyone in the school had a pink glow around their heads, from Albus Dumbledore to little Martin Shore, first year Hufflepuff. Of course, Cai and Sirius had altered their rules a few years back to just include any kiss in their odd game.

Sirius, of course, had actually tried to kiss Professor McGonagall full on the mouth, but she had dodged at the last second and he had just caught her chin.

Cai had kissed Professor Dumbledore on the cheek, and then promptly kissed both Remus and Peter. Sirius had enjoyed kissing Stephanie, Ash (who, by the nearly magenta flush on her cheeks, was enjoying this holiday a lot), and then Lily, all while right in front of James.

Cai had then taken the chance to kiss James, and winked at Lily, who had glared at her.

"Honestly, Cai," The Head Girl said, "Now everyone is going to have a pink glow around their head during the ball."

Sirius waved her off. "Nah, we set the spell so it'll fade out before the ball." Looking at everyone, he added, "Well, it should." James started to laugh, but stopped when Cai, Ash, Stephanie, and Lily all got a similar look on their faces, and bolted from the room.

"What did I do now?" He nearly wailed. Remus grinned.

"Nah, you didn't do anything, James. Its just two." When he still seemed to be confused, Remus added, "The ball is in a few hours, James. The girls are getting ready."

Sirius scratched his head. "It is beyond me why girls need to get ready five hours in advance." James and Peter nodded their agreement, and Remus grinned.

"So, who wants to study?" He asked pretending to be completely serious. He laughed as his friends all groaned, and said, "Hah, just kidding. How 'bout a game of exploding snap, or chess?" They all settled down, oblivious to the time counting down.

- - - - - -

_All right, I'm sooooooo sorry that this took FOREVER to come out! Please don't hate me!_

_And I'll try and get the next chapter out quicker… it should, because I have it basically all planned out. Just need to add dialogue xD _

_So, please review! Thanks!_


	11. Dance, Dance

_Disclaimer:_ _I don't own this. Yeah, it's that simple xD_

_Read, and please review! Thank you!_

_--- --- --- ----_

After a few hours of playing exploding snap (the end result being Peter with only one singed eyebrow, and a littlefirst year boy missing nearly half his head of red hair), the boys left Gryffindor tower to go the Great Hall and check on decorations. Of course, only James was supposed to go, but none of the Marauders could pass up an opportunity such as this.

"James, why isn't there any mistletoe?" Sirius asked. Both Remus and James groaned.

"Because Lily said there can't be any," James offered as an explanation, while Remus said,

"Because it's Valentines Day not Christmas, Padfoot."

"Oh," He remarked casually, and went back to looking at the Great Hall intently. "Why aren't there more decorations?"

The two looked around the vast Great Hall, which was decorated with all sorts of streamers and balloons, along with both paper and magical hearts.

"There should be more?" James inquired slowly.

"How about tinsel?" Peter asked excitedly.

"I find tinsel distracting," a female voice said loudly from behind them. The boys all turned around, and faced Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"Minnie! Dumble-bumble!" Sirius replied in turn. "How simply smashing to see you!"

"Shouldn't you boys be getting ready for the ball?" Professor Dumbledore reminded them kindly. Remus looked at his watch, and groaned.

"James, Lily is going to eat you alive!"

"Why?"

Remus shoved his watch in James' face, and the boy ran from the room in the direction of his dorm.

"Why was Jim-bob in such a rush?" Sirius asked.

"It's nearly half past six," Remus explained.

"What?" Sirius nearly yelped. "But I still have to do my hair!" He started to leave, but then fell on the ground in laughter. "Ah, nearly walked away that time. But just couldn't do it." Still chuckling, he, Remus, and Peter left Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall in the decorated Great Hall, complete with stage, cleared space for dancing, and mistletoe that Sirius had inconspicuously placed nearly everywhere during his intense scrutiny of the decorations.

James nearly flew down the moving staircases, sliding down one banister as he jumped to the next in order to get to the Great Hall quickly. Ignoring the passageways he **could** have taken, which were very dusty and probably would have caused him to have the need for a good cleansing charm, he managed to avoid a first year who was sitting on a landing and tripped down a flight of stairs before landing on the ground floor of the castle. After few moments, he reached into the air to grab his shoe, which had fallen off the balcony near the top of the steps.

Running as quickly as one can while trying to get a shoe on, James slid to a stop in front of Lily, who was demurely waiting for him in front of the entrance to the Great Hall, for they had to walk in together.

"You're late," She told him dryly.

"I am neither late nor early. I arrived precisely when I meant to," James informed her, panting slightly. It was quite a trek from the Head's rooms to the Great Hall, especially when moving staircases were in the mix.

"So you meant to arrive late then," Lilly clarified, but stopped talking when James grabbed her arm, slipped it through the crook of his elbow, tried to unsuccessfully pat down his hair, and propelled her through the now open door all in the same gesture.

Lily grinned as they walked in, but as she looked around the room she muttered,

"James, why is there no band?"

He chuckled nervously. "Well, see, Lils, about that-"

"You forgot, didn't you!" She nearly yelled. "I've worked so hard for this, and-"

"Oh, would that be lover-boy?" James interrupted.

"Potter-"

"Oh, so it's back to that now, is it?" He grinned cheekily at her, and pushed a lock of hair away from her face. "Don't worry about it, Flower, I've got it all handled. Now go play nice with Davy over there. Don't see why you picked him of all people. Honestly, he almost gets his eye knocked out by the Willow, and-" He noticed Lily getting slightly upset, and tucked the lock of hair behind her ear.

"And now I've kept you. Go knock his socks off," James said quietly. She turned to go with a huff, but not before James caught her wrist and said in a low voice, "You look beautiful."

Lily smiled bashfully. "Thanks, James."

"Glad to see I'm forgiven," He replied, kissing her hand that he had previously captured. Lily blushed, but said,  
"Not about the band. Honestly, it's the one thing I ask you to do, and now this ball-"

"Will go perfectly to plan," James completed. "I've got it under control." He noticed Remus trying to catch his eye, and told her, "I've got to go now; I'll see you in a bit."

"But James!" Lily tried to get out before he left, "We have to dance the first dance. Tradition!"

"Make it the last one instead," He said with a wink as he disappeared into the crowd.

Lily fumed, but couldn't stay mad at him for long in the gaiety of the ball. Especially not when Davey was walking towards her with a somewhat concerned look upon his face.

"Are you all right, Lily?" He asked shyly, and she smiled.

"Peachy," Lily replied. "I was just having words with James."

"Ah, I see," Davy said, raising an eyebrow. Stopping his advance, he took a long look at her a whistled. "Might I say, Lily Evans, you do look stunning."

Lily blushed, and looked down at herself. Deep cream colored robes, with a hint of gold thread in the trim. Nothing much, in her opinion. She could have gone for a very fancy set of robes, such as the contraption that she saw Margaret Stebbins wearing across the hall. Pink stuffs and lace everywhere.

"Thank you," She murmured. "You look very nice yourself." She turned a critical eye to Davy, and groaned inwardly as she saw him wearing nearly the exact same midnight blue robes as James.

_But I see he doesn't fill them out quite as nice as James does,_ the voice in her head told her.

_Shut it_ Lily replied. "Very nice," She repeated out loud, taking his arm and walking towards the table that she had asked to be set aside for her, James, and their friends.

Of course James, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and…Cai were missing.

"Not now," Lily groaned, and Davy turned to her.

"Is something wrong, Lils?" He asked.

_It just doesn't sound like it does when James calls me that_, she mused, before jumping back to the present.

"No, everything's fine," She told him, "Just that a few of my friends are missing, and I'm not quite sure where they are. But it's no big deal. I'm sure they're around here somewhere."

Stephanie and Ash exchanged glances from where they were sitting.

'Think she's gonna freak?' Stephanie mouthed.

'But of course!' Ash replied excitedly. Stephanie grinned back, and grabbed the hand of her date, Peter McCalley.

"First dance, mister, we're going to be out on that floor." The boy gulped, but squeezed Stephanie's hand.

"Of course, Steph," He replied calmly.

"Good," She told him, and went back to talking to Ash. Peter just went back to doodling on piece of parchment he had managed to grab from his bag before leaving. Lily just smiled at them, and motioned for Davy to take a seat, which he promptly did, Lily following him.

_James would have pulled the chair out for her,_ Ash thought, but went back to her conversation.

About fifteen minutes later, a muttered _Sonorus_ charm caught their attention.

"Excuse me… excuse me! Simmer down!" James' voice was heard from the stage. Lily groaned.

"Well, now that I've got your attention," James said with a grin, "I'm pleased to present **The Lime Cats** for your listening pleasure tonight… or at least, for the first half of the evening. And without further ado… the genius minds called **The Lime Cats**!"

The audience applauded, slightly confused as they had never heard of the band before, but a few people started to laugh as James went over and picked up one of the guitars.

"What," He asked jokingly, "You think there's something the amazing James Potter **can't** do?" Even Lily had to hide a smile, because he looked ridiculous in his dress robes, holding an electric guitar.

"Maybe a change of costume," He mused, and with a wave of his wand he was dressed in a pair of ripped jeans, a muggle band t-shirt, and a ripped blazer. As he was speaking, people noticed as four others wandered out onto the stage. Sirius, wearing a pair of jeans and… a leather vest. Peter, wearing a pair of khakis and a polo shirt. Remus, who was wearing another muggle band shirt over a button down shirt, as well as a pair of cords walked over to the keyboard.

And Cai finally wandered out onto the stage, wearing her sleeveless dark red-colored dress robes over a pair of jeans. Of course, her dress robes came to knee length, so she didn't look completely out of place. Just slightly.

"Now that my band has decided to join the festivities-"

"Excuse me, Jimmy boy, but this is my band!" A minor argument broke out on stage between Cai and James, but was quickly resolved by Remus putting one hand on Cai's shoulder and smacking the back of James' head.

"As you can see," He said, "We have some disagreements… but who wants to hear about that, huh? Who wants to hear some music?"

The only cheers that could be heard were coming from a table quite close to the front. Looking closer, one could see Ash and Stephanie cheering their heads off.

"All right then," Sirius said nervously, and sat down at the drums. "Ready to go, guys?" He looked at Cai, and added, "And girl?" Once they all nodded, he started to hit a beat.

And the entire room looked on in a bit of shock as they actually started to play.

- -

After playing a set, including a muggle song called "Dance, Dance", the band ambled on down to the table where their friends were sitting.

"So," James said hesitantly as he sat next to Lily in a vacant seat, "Up to your standards?"

Lily smirked, and debating on teasing him, but decided against it. "You guys were perfect James. Thanks for not ruining it." The rest of the table laughed at the look of indignation on James' face.

"I was never going to ruin it. I did contact a band-"

"Two weeks late," Remus muttered, but James ignored him.

"-And they weren't able to come till later. So they will come. Maybe you've heard of them. **The Purple People Eaters**."

A table full of third years gasped from next to them and one short girl hurried over to their table.

"Excuse me, Mister James," She said excitedly, "But did you just say that you got **The Purple People Eaters** to perform?"

"Is there something wrong with that?" He asked curiously.

"No, no, no," She insisted. "I was just wondering if it was true. Y'see, they **are** my favorite band in the entire world, and it would make this Valentines Day just terrific if they were here, and Andr-"

James broke her off with a wave, and leant down so she was a bit taller than he was.

"How 'bout this?" James asked. "You enjoy yourself, and once the band gets here, I'll see if I can wrangle up an introduction. How about that?"

The girl's eyes went wide. "You r-really w-w-would do that?" She stammered.

"Of course I would. Now go back and enjoy yourself, and I'll come find you when they get here." She shrieked excitedly and then skipped back to her table.

"Honestly James," Lily said exasperatedly, "How are you going to manage that one? And how did you even manage to get them to come here on such short notice, especially when they just switched drummers?"

Sirius started laughing. "Didn't know you were such a fan," He said grinning, and added, "But I knew you'd peg him on that one, Lils." He let James cover the rest of the explanation.

"See, their lead singer, Marcus Billstein, is my cousin… or something like that. He's my mum's cousin's son, so I'm not exactly sure what that makes me to him. And I asked him to play for us the whole time, but he needed to take his girlfriend out for dinner. They're going to make it official, y'know," He added, waggling his eyebrows. "And so they'll be here afterwards, because his girlfriend will force him to come, even if he doesn't want to; probably along with the rest of the bunch too, because they all went to Hogwarts a few years back."

Lily nodded slowly. "So," She said, putting it all together, "You talked to a band later than I asked you to, and then talked to Cai and got her to perform the spell that she uses every summer?" All the girls started laughing.

"Remember that 'concert' you gave?" Stephanie asked.

"I remember that!" Ash said excitedly. "Cai's mum had a recital for the entire family, and Cai invited us to liven things up a little bit…"

"But she forgot to use the right spell, and instead of playing classical she broke out into Led Zeppelin…" Lily added, giggling.

The men at the table looked on at their dates (Or friends) helplessly, until Dumbledore tapped his glass with piece of silverware.

"Why didn't he just use a _Sonorous_ charm?" Davy asked.

The entire table replied unanimously, "It affects the aftertaste of sherbet lemons," before breaking out into laughter.

"Excuse me," Professor Dumbledore said, "But would our own musical group like to return to the stage?"

The boys and Cai grinned, and ambled over to the stage before Dumbledore added,

"And swallowing a sherbet lemon is never pleasant when the delightfully citrus-y aftertaste is not present."

The table group burst out into laughter again as the entire hall looked on in question.

"All right," James said nervously, "Who wants to hear some more songs?"

- -

Lily looked out at the dance floor dejectedly. Davy was a perfect date; or he would be, if they had anything in common and he didn't act uncannily like James. Looking out she saw Stephanie dancing with Peter McCalley, Ash dancing with a seventh year Ravenclaw whom Lily recognized as Benjamin Harris, and-

"May I have this dance?" James asked, offering his hand.

"Aren't you supposed to be playing music?" Lily asked in return.

James chuckled. "My services aren't needed for the moment," He explained, and pointed to the stage, where Cai and Sirius were fighting over the microphone.

"And why are two members of the band fighting over the microphone?" Lily asked amusedly.

"Because," James replied in turn, "We're each singing a 'solo' song, and Cai wants to sing hers first, before Sirius figures out what it is and starts to sing it himself."

"Ah," Lily said, albeit with a little confusion. Why would Sirius want to sing a song that Cai was singing? However, Cai triumphantly grabbed the microphone, motioned to Remus, and he started plunking out chords as she sang loudly,

"_First I was afraid, I was petrified_."

"I Will Survive?" Lily asked dryly, and James grinned.

"Give it a second…" They watched as Sirius knocked Cai out of the way, grabbed the microphone, and kept singing.

"_Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side_," He crooned to the audience, and Cai walked over to her guitar in a huff and started playing.

"_But I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong_,"

Cai muttered something, and his outfit changed from a leather vest and jeans to a sparkly red dress and heels. Sirius just shrugged and continued.

"_I grew strong, and I learned how to carry on-"_

Lily looked a bit shocked, but James just kept laughing.

"So, may I have this dance?" He repeated.

Lily looked at Davy for a second, and quickly replied, "I guess so…"

Without another word, James whirled her out onto the dance floor, carefully trying to avoid stepping on her toes as he looked at her.

Lily was wearing floor length dress robes of a deep cream, with gold flowers embroidered into the hem and at the neckline, which dipped a bit low. Her shoulders were bare, but the sleeves of the dress started at a point just below them and flowed out at her wrists.

"Again, Flower," James said, "You look beautiful tonight." While avoiding stepping on James' feet as well as the nickname distracted her, he quickly unclipped her hair from its position at the back of her head.

"James Potter!" She shrieked. "Why in the name of Merlin's beard did you do that? It took me an hour to get that hairstyle right! And now I have to fix it."

"Don't," He murmured, "I like your hair when it's down." She glared at him, but made no move to excuse herself, and that made James smile.

"_Go on now go, walk out the door._

_Just turn around now, _

'_cause you're not welcome anymore,"_

James and Lily looked up at the stage where Sirius was now trying to moonwalk, and they burst out into laughter.

- -

"C'mon, Remus," Cai cajoled a few minutes later. "You have to sing **one** solo song. And since you didn't pick on yourself, Sirius, James, and Peter picked one for you!"

The boys' eyes glittered dangerously, and Remus felt a sense of growing agitation.

"No! I refuse! You can't make me!" He exclaimed.

"_I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand,"_ He sang dejectedly a few minutes and a scuffle later, amidst great laughter from his friends. He saw Lily smiling at him, along with Cai, which prompted a few thoughts to run through his mind.

_Does she know about me?_ He thought, but the thought quickly disappeared from his mind as he sang the next line of the song.

The entire gang grinned after Remus finished singing and the band itself started plunking out the opening chords to "Le Chic". However, their amusement tripled when Gilderoy Lockheart ran out screaming from the ball.

"Whoopsies?" Sirius muttered, but everyone laughed.

James decided to sing his own 'solo' after the next song finished; what he wasn't counting on was Lily and Davy getting up and dancing right in front of him.

"'Ya sure you want to do this, Prongs?" Sirius asked quietly when they were done, and James shrugged before nodding.

"Doesn't really change anything, she can hear the band from any corner of the hall."

He took a deep breath, and motioned for Remus to start playing. The entire dance floor looked up as they broke out into a fast paced song.

"_You," _He sang,_ "Doin' that thing you do,_

_Breaking my heart into a million pieces,_

_Like you always do,_

And you,  
Don't mean to be cruel,  
You never even knew about the heartache,  
I've been going through  
Well I try and try to forget you girl,  
But it's just so hard to do,  
Every time you do that thing you do-"

Lily looked up from her spot right in front of James, and sighed when they made eye contact.

"Is something wrong, Lily?" Davy asked, and she sighed again.

"No, no problem. Everything's fine."

- -

Lily managed a grin as James sat next to her again.

"I really liked the song you sang earlier," She told him hesitantly, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Thanks," He replied quietly, and they watched Peter try to sing "Afternoon Delight".

"No offense or anything, but how did Peter manage to get into the band? He's been tone deaf since first year, and they actually slightly deaf since third when you blew up that cauldron."

James grinned sheepishly. "Cai had him play the triangle."

Lily started chuckling.

"What? What's so funny about that?"

"Well," She told him swallowing a giggle, "Cai always gave her littlest brother the triangle. She never told us why, but maybe that's the reason."

James chuckled. "Probably why," He mused, and looked onto the dance floor where Ash was dancing with a seventh year Hufflepuff named Brian Miller.

"Think Sirius'll ever realize?" Lily said quietly from next to him, and James started.

"Hopefully," He replied calmly, although he wanted to retort, Think **you'll** ever realize? Lily looked at him as if she heard him, and sighed. James made a split second decision as Remus charmed a quartet of string instruments to play some classical music for a few songs, and rose.

"Lily, do you want to dance?"

She looked at him curiously. "Do you even know **how** to dance?"

"I danced with you earlier," He pointed out.

"Not this way," She scoffed, but took his hand and rose. Situating themselves on the edge of the dance floor, they started to waltz into the center.

"Sure you know how to dance?" Lily asked a second later, silently nursing her toe.

"Of course I do, I **am** the one who asked you to after all," He pointed out.

Still quietly arguing, they did not catch the amused glances of Sirius and Cai, who were sitting near the door in hopes of catching **The Purple People Eaters** before they were mobbed by people.

"I bet that its five minutes before James realizes that Lily is bluffing, and has no clue how to waltz, or tango, or whatever they're trying to do," She muttered to Sirius. He grinned.

"I give it one before James manages to screw it up and Lily ends up going to the Hospital Wing."

They watched in horror as James stepped on Lily's foot, tried to pull away, and then proceeded to crash their foreheads together and watch helplessly as Lily fell to the floor.

"Pay up!" Sirius said gleefully.

"We weren't betting for money!" Cai wailed, but turned around when someone said from behind her,

"Well, isn't that the only kind of bet one can make?"

She broke into a grin, and jumped into the arms of Andrew Roberts.

"Andrew, what are you doing here?" She nearly squealed, and then looked at him suspiciously.

"I am not scheming to kidnap Mr. Pup," He replied, hands raised, and then tweaked her nose.

"Well then," Cai said slowly, "That's all right." She pondered for a second, and whispered, "Are you the new drummer?" Andrew grinned.

"The one and only," He told her, raking his hands through his red hair. "And you, young lady, are you going with the young and dangerous Mr. Black to the ball?" She rolled her eyes.

"Andrew, you're only two years older than me," Cai informed him. "Don't try and pull the whole 'I'll be your brother, father, and great-grandfather' act on me. And no, I'm not. I'm actually playing guitar."

His eyes widened. "You didn't!"

"Yup, I did," She said, laughing. Sirius just looked on in confusion.

"Well," He tried to say, but was interrupted.

"I can't believe you would use the spell!"

"Hey, couldn't let Jim-bob take the fall!"

"Where is he, anyway?"

"Taking Lily to the Hospital Wing, most likely," Sirius interjected, happy to finally be able to put something into this conversation.

Andrew raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes sparkling. "He tried to dance?"

Both Sirius and Cai nodded, grinning.

A muffled voice came from the entrance hall, shouting, "Oy, Andrew! Get back in here!"

Andrew rolled his eyes, and jerked his thumb in the direction of the door. "The rest of them are in there," He said, "And they sent me in because they figured no one would recognize me." The three grinned.

"Guess they didn't factor in the fact that nearly everyone at Hogwarts faints when they hear your name," Cai said with a wink. "I'm still not sure if its because nearly everyone fancies you, or if its because they're terrified that you'll threaten them with five a.m. quidditch practice."

"Well, once we serve dessert, we'll start to set up all your stuff. That's in about a half hour or so." Sirius said, for once trying to sound professional.

"Hey, you guys think you could come in for a bit?" Cai asked excitedly. "I mean, we can do a spell and change hair colors or something like that. And-"

"Sure, Cai," Andrew said with a smile. "Give me a few minutes, and then we'll come in. And I want you playing your best, all right?" She smiled back, and skipped off to the stage, presumably to annoy Remus about playing better.

Both boys rolled their eyes, and walked in opposite directions.

- -

"I'm fine, Madam Pomfrey!" Lily insisted as the matron bustled around, looking for various potions. "In all honesty, I just hit my head on a very dense surface!"

"Hey!" James replied indignantly.

"What, it's true!" Lily retorted. "You are the densest person I know!"

"What about Sirius?"

"A close second then!" She replied.

Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat, and mock-glared at them.

"Now, you two-"

"I don't understand why you would think I'm dense!" James interrupted.

"Why wouldn't I?" Lily retorted. "How about the past six years as an example?"

"Excuse me-"

"Well, we're friends now," James interrupted again, "So you can't use that against me!" He stuck his tongue out at her childishly, and Madam Pomfrey took this time to raise her voice loudly, and say,

"**Children**!"

They both looked at her hesitantly, James' tongue still sticking out.

"Mr. Potter, if you would-" James grinned hesitantly. "Thank you. And now, Miss Evans, if you could take this potion, you will be cleared to return to the ball. Against my better judgement, Professor Dumbledore has insisted that any injuries sustained during the ball, unless life-threatening, should result in the student's return to the Great Hall. A load of poppycock, if you ask me. Why-"

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," James said, sweeping a bow. "If you would allow me to escort our graceful Head Girl back down to the ball…"

She grimaced. "I suppose, Mr. Potter. But please, make sure she is careful. I wouldn't want to see either one of you back here tonight."

James grinned while Lily scowled, and before she could respond he propelled her through the Hospital Wing doors and down the stairs. Upon reaching the Entrance Hall, he nearly squealed excitedly.

"James?" Lily asked hesitantly.

"They're here!" He replied happily. "For a bit there I thought I would have to play and sing the entire night… and that wouldn't be too bad, except… well, I had other plans!" Still babbling, Lily just shook her head before holding her finger to his lips.

"Quiet," She murmured, and James shut up. "Much better. Now, who's here?" James looked at her, a bit shocked.

"**The Purple People Eaters**," he replied, "Who else? Now where was that first year… or was she a third year? One can't tell, they're all about the same height."

Lily rolled her eyes, but once she started to walk into the Great Hall and James followed closely behind her, she snapped.

"James Potter," She nearly snarled, "Please stay at least five feet away from me."

"But why, Lils?" He asked, pouting.  
"Because," She replied, "I don't want to end up in the hospital wing again."

James grinned. "Well, Lily, I would have to say that the entire episode was your fault." Noticing Lily's glare, he quickly backtracked. "I mean, you just looked so beautiful… it was a wonder I didn't accidentally lit the building on fire or something in my happ- I mean, my shock?" Lily quirked an eyebrow, but not before Remus, Peter, Sirius, Ash, Stephanie, and Cai ran out into the entrance hall.

"Hullo Jim-bob!" The six chorused, and the boys started talking with James while the girls turned to Lily.

"Lils, c'mon," Cai whined. "Andrew's here, and-"

"-And Cai needs the band to sing a song so she can dance with him." Ash finished. Cai rolled her eyes, but grinned.

"Hey, who can blame me if I want to dance with him? And-"

"James, that third year was looking for you," Remus told him.

"So it was a third year!" He replied, and all the other seven rolled their eyes and started chatting as they walked into the hall.

After Cai had gotten her chance to dance with Andrew, and **The Lime Cats** had played a few more songs, they were ready for an announcement.

"Excuse me," James said into the microphone, "But this will be the last song that we sing tonight." The entire group of students groaned, but smiled as James continued.

"We do have another band for you to listen to, but we'll let them introduce themselves." Here he winked at the third-year girl. "So, without further ado… a collaboration by Sirius, Cai, Remus, Peter, and myself." The audience clapped politely, but when only Remus moved towards an instrument they groaned.

Ignoring the whispers of the quickly agitated crowd, the other four took their positions on the front of the stage, with Sirius and James in the middle, and Cai and Peter on the outside edges. As a few opening chords were struck and the first lines sung, nearly all of the muggle-born students groaned.

(A**/N: To the tune of "Just the Two of Us" xD Dr. Evil version xD Have fun, Ashey xD**)

"This is a very sensitive subject," Sirius told the crowd knowingly, and Lily started hitting her head on the table.

"Oooooh!" Peter burst out off-key, but the rest of the band went along like it was supposed to happen.

"Just the two of us, oh yeah… Just the two of us!" Cai and Remus added.

"_From the moment I met Sirius,_

_on the Hogwarts train-_

_I knew that I'd be safe, ne'er alone again_," James sang.

"_A Marauder really shouldn't speak a lot about his feelings, _

_my hurt and my pain would just make me too appealin'," _He continued with a wink.

"And would get you too many beatings!" Andrew quipped from the crowd.

"_I'd hoped Lily would like me." _James continued to sing, but Sirius broke in.

"_Think of names for the children of their family._

_They would become Marauders, just like their dear old dad_

_He'd give them lots of love and stuff he's always had."_

"_She would think I was a cool guy_

_Return the love I had, make me want to cry_

_Be a Marauder, but have cool feelings too._

_Change my life with the help of Remus, and I guess Peter too," _James sang again.

At this point Lily was banging her head on the table top.

"_ But she rejected me. C'est la vie_

_Life is cruel, treat you unfairly_

_Even so, a god there must be,_

_Sirius, you complete me!"_

_  
_The entire audience looked shocked at this statement, but started laughing as Sirius blinked bashfully and playfully hit (Punched) James in the shoulder, causing him to nearly fall off of the stage.

"Buildin' castles in the sky!" Peter shouted out, and everyone just looked at him.

"We gave up, Petey," Cai told him slowly, and the boy shrugged.

"Oh well."

After the **Purple People Eaters** were calmly situated on stage, and had started playing after a few girlish screams had broken out (mainly from Sirius and James, who were trying to annoy Andrew), James was found trying to cajole Lily into dancing with him again.

"I swear, Lils, I'll close my eyes this time."

"No you won't!" She nearly shrieked. Continuing in a quieter tone, she added, "That might just make it worse. But I'm not risking my health and my safety to dance with you again!"

James grinned knowingly. "Ah, but you promised me the last dance, my fair lady."

"I did no such thing!" Lily said, knowing he had her sunk.

"Yes you did," He drawled, "And I'll be coming by later to collect on that promise. Until then, I have other engagements." He tipped an imaginary hat and walked off in the direction of Professor McGonagall, whom he soon dragged out onto the dance floor and began to swing dance with.

Lily just shook her head, and allowed herself to be swept out onto the floor by Sirius.

"C'mon, Lily Flower," Sirius cajoled, "Why won't you dance with my bestest friend in the entire world?" He blinked his eyes coquettishly, as if to try and use them to persuade her to do as he asked.

She rolled her eyes in return. "Because, Sirius-"

"Sirius Sirius Bo-birius! Banana fana fo-firius! Me mi mo mirius-"

"Sirius!'

"Ah, the name game!" He exclaimed happily. "So joyful! So… exciting! So-"

"Annoying?" Remus broke in. Gently prying Lily away from Sirius' arms, he pulled her away from him.

"So, was the whole thing to your liking?" He asked worriedly. Lily thought about teasing him, but decided to tell the truth, and nodded.

"In all honesty," She informed him, "I didn't think that anything would turn out right. I mean, I've had absolutely no experience in planning anything like this, and James' help wasn't too much." Remus' eyes twinkled.

"Y'know, Lils," He said, "James was up all night, worrying about this."

Lily grinned. "Probably just because he left it to the last minute."

Remus chuckled. "Well, besides that fact, he wanted to make it perfect for you. He knew how much you were looking forward to this."

"Well, it's a good thing he didn't mess it up," Lily told him, "This night needed to be perfect. And I really think it will be. I mean, so far, nobody has really gotten hurt, the students are all enjoying their time, nothing has explo-" She broke off as a loud boom echoed throughout the room.

They all turned towards the sound, where they found Sirius and Peter sheepishly waving next to a disgruntled Hufflepuff fourth year, whose skin was currently spiraling through the colors of the rainbow.

"Well," She continued, "At least nothing exploded until then, and it wasn't **too** bad…"

Remus laughed. "True that."

Lily continued to dance with various 6th and 7th year boys, even pausing to dance with a second year who looked like he would have to be dared to talk to the Head Girl, much less dance with her.

Granted, this went on for at least an hour before she made her excuses and stumbled over to the table where Stephanie, Ash, and Cai were sitting.

"Hullo, ladies," She said wearily, and slumped into a chair, kicking off her high heeled shoes.

The three girls waved back at her, and went back to their card tower.  
"Shouldn't you three be out there dancing?" She questioned.

"My feet hurt," Ash said.

"Peter went to go get drinks," Stephanie replied.

"My nose hurts," Cai said whimsically. Everyone looked at her curiously, before she told them, "And no one else will dance with me, I've broken too many toes."

The group giggled, before Lily pulled her chair around to their side of the table and started helping them.

"I've missed this," She said quietly, a few minutes later.

"Hmm?" Cai asked, absentmindedly twirling a strand of her blonde hair around her finger.

"Missed what?" Stephanie asked.

"Us just hanging out, like this," Lily reiterated. Ash grinned.

"Then I propose a plan, ladies." They all groaned, but listened to what she was saying.

"Every Wednesday, we'll get together. We can use the Head's Dorms-"

"Hey!" Lily interjected.

"-Because I don't feel like including Mary," Ash continued, "And we'll just sit up late eating chocolates and having ice cream and butter beer and doing makeovers and-"

"But it's a school night!" Lily exclaimed.

"You seem to be the only one voicing any objections," Stephanie told her.

Lily shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "All right, all right."

"-And we won't invite the boys, because then what would be the point of the girls night in?" Ash continued, completely ignoring the fact that two of the other three girls were breaking off into side conversations.

"And we can have pillow fights, and wear nighties, and we can gush over how handsome Sirius Black is," Another very familiar voice said from behind Ash. The girl nodded exuberantly, before realizing who was speaking.

"Sirius Black!" She yelled, jumping up in her seat. "How dare you intrude on a private conversation! We were-"

"Talking about how lovely I am, I know. It's on everyone's minds these days."

"If you had one ounce of respe-"

"Lily, may I have this dance?" Davey interrupted, finally finding his way back to her side.

She nodded, grateful for the interruption between the upcoming fight of Ash and Sirius, and pulled her shoes back on before she took the offered hand.

They danced for a bit before the final song of the night was announced.

"I know all of you wizarding folk might not recognize this tune," Marcus said softly into the microphone, "But I know all you muggle-borns out there will recognize it, and probably groan at the corny-ness of it. But without further ado…"

As he trailed off, Owen Smith started to play a few chords on the piano, and then grinned at the girls who recognized the song and sighed in contentment.

"Last dance… last dance for love…"

"Excuse me, but may I cut in?" James' voice broke in. He extended his hand to Lily, who hesitated for a moment before taking it.

"You don't have to, Lils," Davey said. "I thought we would dance together."

Both Lily and James' eyes narrowed at Davey's use of her nickname, but not before Lily answered,

"Well, you see Davey, I had promised James that I would dance the last dance with him, and-"

"-That last dance has come, so I've returned to collect. If you would excuse us?" James finished, whisking her away.

After dancing for a few moments, Lily murmured, "I suppose we were a bit rude."

"Nah," James scoffed, "He's all wrong for you anyhow. I mean, it's not like-" He broke off his speech in order to look directly above him. "Uh, Lils-"

"Wait, what were you saying before? James, you keep doing that. You never let me actually get to know a guy."

"Lily-"

"And why are you always doing that? It might be a good idea to actually let me date other guys… you would get to see me use my scathing wit on someone else for a turn." She winked, in jest, but his eyes were still focused directly above them. "James, are you even listening to me? You-"

"Ooooh, mistletoe!" Ash exclaimed from her spot next to them, where she was dancing with Sirius.

"Mistletoe?" Lily asked suspiciously, and James nodded slowly. "James, I thought I said no-"

"It wasn't me, it was probably Sirius," He interrupted. The guilty party nodded shamelessly.

"Hey, I felt it would liven up the party a little bit!" Sirius then proceeded to pull a few dance moves that had everyone in the room cringing.

"But anyway, you two cutest little lovebirds in the history of the entire world-" Here he paused to catch his breath after his… exhilarating routine. "Now you have to kiss, because you're caught under the mistletoe, and nothing is gonna let you go!" He grinned at his own little rhyme, while Ash groaned.

"Sorry Lils," She murmured, and quickly guided Sirius away from the two of them.

James blanched. "Just want to let you know Lils, I had absolutely nothing to do with this. I swear. Absolutely, positively, nothing-"

"It's charmed, isn't it?"

"The mistletoe?"

"Yeah, that stupid little bugger."

James grinned sheepishly. "Most likely, yes. And now that we're caught underneath it, it most likely won't let us escape from a five meter radius around it."

"Bloody brilliant," Lily exhaled loudly. As the closing strains of the song commenced, she sighed.

"Well, at least it could be worse," She conceded.

"How?" James said.

"I could be kissing the giant squid," She told him before pressing her lips to his.

James quickly closed his eyes after his state of shock, and unbeknownst to him one of his hands traveled up to the loose red tendrils of hair currently cascading over her shoulders, and held itself in place at the nape of her neck. All too quickly for him, she broke away and smiled shyly.

"Lily! Oy, Lily Evans!" Cai yelled from across the room. Lily shook her head to clear it of her stupor, before reiterating,

"As I said, at least you're not the giant squid." James spluttered indignantly at this statement, but before he could say anything of value, Lily had disappeared from his side and re-appeared at Cai's.

"So, Prongs, did you like the enchanted mistletoe?"

Still gaping in shock, James did the only thing he could have done.

And no, he didn't faint. He just clapped Sirius on the shoulder, and grinned, as Lily turned and smiled again.

--------------

_Authors Note: -grins sheepishly- Uh… sorry this is so delayed? And I'm soo sorry that I didn't get this out by ACTUAL Valentine's Day… whoops._

_So… please review! Thanks so much!_


	12. Boxes are not to blame

_Please read and review! _

- - - -

Lily smiled to herself as she and the girls walked down the hallway in the direction of the Head's Dormitories. As a way for all of them to recap what had happened without being interrupted by anyone else, they had planned days in advance to have a sleepover in Lily's dorm the night of the ball.

Lily, however, was now thinking that this could be a bad idea, particularly because James had informed her that the Marauders were planning to do the same thing. Or at least talk for a few hours before sneaking around and setting up some pranks.

And secondly, Lily wanted some time alone to berate herself for her actions at the ball.

_I was with someone else!_ She thought unhappily. _Why did I even kiss him?_

_Because you love him,_ the voice in her head told her. _You want to hold him- you want to hug him- you want to kiss- Oh, you've already done that._

Lily shook her head, trying to get the voice to leave, but to no avail.

"Lily?"

She just shook her head again.

"Lils!" Cai shouted this time, and Lily looked at her.

"Yes?"

"Finally, you've come back from your daydream."

"Yeah, what were you doing-" Ash asked.

"Dreaming about Jamesie-poo?" Stephanie finished.

Instead of Lily shaking her head (Yet again), she nodded slowly as the girls looked on in shock.

"What?"

Lily sighed, and hung her head. "Guys, I feel like a… a… a very stupid person."

"Eloquently put," Cai said with a giggle, but stopped as Lily glared at her.

"Can we talk about this in the dorm?"

The girls nodded, and watched as she murmured the password and walked into the common room.

"I place my bets on James kissed her," Stephanie said.

Ash shook her head. "Nah, I think she just realized what Davey was trying to do." All three girls rolled their eyes, remembering how, after the school had been informed that James was wearing navy blue robes (By Sirius, of course), the other boy had quickly purchased a set.

Cai thought pensively for a second, and then blurted out, "I think Lily kissed Jim-bob, and is about to do something incredibly stupid." The other two girls looked at her, before Ash gasped in horror.  
"Oh no," She moaned, "Sirius and his mistletoe." Cai nodded, but before Stephanie could say something Lily stuck her head back into the hallway.

"Are you three coming?" She asked, and the girls followed her into the room without a second thought.

As they settled themselves around the dormitory floor on conjured bean-bags, conveniently having changed into their pajamas, Ash decided to break the ice.

"So, who had a great time?" She asked, grinning.

"Woohoo!" Cai suddenly shouted, and then looked at everyone quizzically. "Oh, whoops, thought we were going for them whole 'yay!' theme…" Seeing everyone's looks, she quickly shut up.

"Anyway…" Stephanie said, as expecting another outburst from the blonde, "How were everyone's dates?" She rolled up the sleeves of her long-sleeved shirt to her elbow, and sprawled out on the chair.

"Completely perfect," Ash sighed, and the girls looked at her curiously.

"Ash, you didn't go with anyone," Cai pointed out blatantly, and Ash mock-glared at her.

"I know," She said cheerfully, "But the last dance…"The girls all smiled, having seen Ash dance with Sirius.

Stephanie cleared her throat, and said softly, "Peter was just too nice. And he's handsome, and adorable, and smart, and… he doesn't mind hanging out with you lot!" The girls all gasped in mock-indignation, before breaking out into giggles.

"So, Cai, how was Andrew?" Lily asked casually, and they all laughed as the blonde blushed.

"How was James?" She countered, and Lily paled slightly. Noticing this, Cai continued on the previous subject.

"Well, he was so nice. I haven't seen him in a year, so it was great to see him, and he's promised to visit Abuela's this summer so we can hang out, and he said that he'll get me backstage passes for their tour next year because he knows I want to meet-"

She stopped as she noticed she was babbling, and grinned. "Well, anyway, it was nice."

The girls all chuckled, before the other three turned expectantly to the lone red-head of the group.

"So?" Ash asked excitedly, and the other girls chimed in.

"Yeah, how was he?"

"What happened?"

"Why-"

"Enough!" Lily said seriously, "Davey was a… sweetheart. He's very nice, and-" Catching the glares of the other girls, she sighed.

"I suppose you meant James?"

They all nodded furiously, and Lily sighed again.

"Guys, do I really-"

They all nodded again.

"But-" She was cut off by the door opening.

"Lily?" James said from outside the door.

"Yes James?" She answered.

"Can I come in?" Looking around at all the girls, she said,

"Sure."

He came in slowly, but didn't shut the door.

"Lils, I just wanted to say-" He was the one to be interrupted this time by the sound of breaking glass.

"Ooopsie!" They all heard Sirius say loudly, and all the girls turned to James for an explanation, but he shrugged.

"I'm not sure how he even got something that was breakable," James mused, "We've already charmed all the windows to not break, and we all know to never bring glass bottles in here… but anyway, I just wanted to say-"

He was interrupted again by what seemed to be Peter yelling, "Oy, Sirius, put me down. Sirius! I don't like heights- Remus! Help me!"

Rolling his eyes, he quickly said, "I know that the guys are here tonight, but if they're really bothering you, send someone over and we'll tone it down." Rushing out of the room, they heard his voice shouting, "Sirius, put Peter down now! And no, I don't want a skylight, and most definitely not made out of broken firewhiskey bottles!" He seemed to pause for a second, and then yelled quite loudly, "Why would I even have firewhiskey bottles?" as if to redeem himself to Lily.

The four girls broke out into laughter yet again, but sobered as Lily sighed for a third time.

"So?" Cai prodded, and Lily glared at her before answering.

"Well, thanks to Sirius and his mistletoe-" Here she broke off to glare at Ash, and Stephanie interrupted.

"I knew it! I knew James would kiss you!" Seeing Lily shake her head, the girls looked on in a bit of shock.  
"You kissed him?" Cai asked, and Lily nodded silently.

The girls suddenly jumped up in a victory dance, and started cheering, not noticing tears coming down from Lily's eyes. Cai was the first one to notice after a few minutes, and immediately sat next to the girl.

"What's wrong, Lils?" She asked, and immediately took Lily's hair out of its ponytail and started to braid it.

"It's just… I'm a horrible person!" Lily sniffled. "I go to the ball with one guy, and then kiss another when I don't mean to, and now I've made a horrible mess of things! I'm not ready to do anything about this!"

Surprisingly to her, all three girls looked like they knew what she was talking about. She narrowed her eyes slightly, but continued speaking.

"And I feel so absolutely horrible about it!"

"Why?" Stephanie asked. "This is probably going to be the happiest moment of James' life."

Lily hung her head. "No it won't," She murmured.

"Again, why?" Ash asked.

"'Cause it can't go anywhere, and that's what I'm going to tell him in the morning." The other three girls looked at her in shock.

"I just can't do this!" She tried to explain. "I'm just… it's just… he won't want me! He'll be with me for a day, and then he'll get tired of me, and besides, I don't deserve him, and I'm a fre…" She trailed off as she realized the other girls were glaring at her.

"Lils," Cai said gently, "What are you talking about? James loves you. And you are not a freak. I know that was what you were going to say." The other two girls nodded their agreement, and Cai was about to continue when another crash interrupted her speech. Suddenly realizing there could be a lot of problems in the morning if Lily continued down this path, she decided to speak with the boys about it.

"I'm going to go see what that was," She told the girls, nodding meaningfully in the direction of Ash and Stephanie. The girls nodded back, and Ash waved her wand in the direction of a muggle stereo and it started to play. Cai slipped out of the room, and was halfway across the common room before another crash occurred. She ran the rest of the way over, and noticing the open door put on speed so she could run in and jump on James' bed.

However, she did not count on Remus closing the door a split second before she got there.

"Oomph!" She muttered as she ran into the now closed door. The door slowly opened, and Remus peeked out.

"Cai?" He exclaimed, and immediately helped her up.

"Ouch," She murmured. "That hurt. Never shut a door in my face again." Remus started fussing over her, and she grinned.

"Oy, Cai, what d'ya do now?" Sirius drawled from inside the room.

"Just be lucky that I'm a chaser and not a beater!" Cai shouted cheerfully before walking into the room and flopping down onto James' bed.

"Oof," James murmured as she sat on him, but nothing could keep the smile from his face.

"Sorry Jim-bob," She muttered off handedly, and sat pensively on his pillow. After a few minutes of her musing, the guys looked at her.

"Er, Cai?" Peter asked. "Why are you here?"

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "I need to talk to James."

"Should we leave?" Remus asked, noticing how James' grin seemed to deflate somewhat. Cai looked to the boy in question, and when he shrugged, the three guys took this as their cue to leave.

"Come back in in about fifteen minutes, all right?" She murmured as they left, and inclined her head slightly in response to Remus' nod.

"So, Cai," James said hesitantly, "What prompts this conversation?"

- -

"So basically," James summed up, his good mood completely gone, "Lily feels as if kissing me was a mistake, and that it can't go anywhere because her parents…" He trailed off as he looked at Cai, and exclaimed, "Well, that's a completely absurd reason! She _needs_ some happiness right now!"

Cai rolled her eyes. "Well, you try telling her that." She sobered up as the severity of the conversation hit her. "Jim-bob," She murmured, "Something's really wrong with her, now. I mean, I sort of accepted it in the beginning. It's a part of her, she just has to try and work things through on her own. But now she's throwing away the best thing in her life, for someone who almost got his eye knocked out by the willow," James silently cheered at this point in the conversation, glad that he had the support of his love's best friend, "and because she feels like she doesn't deserve anything good to happen to her, because Tuna- face has completely rotted her mind and has-" She cut off as Remus poked his head back in.

"Is everything okay in here?" He asked, looking at the two of them. Cai, in turn, looked at James, who shrugged again.

"Yeah," He replied, "You guys can come in now."

"Just remember what I said before," Cai reminded James as she started to leave. "Don't do anything about it now. I'll try and bring her around." She ruffled his hair fondly, before slipping out of the door and walking back across the common room, this time at a slightly slower pace.

- -

The dance was all that was on the minds of the students as they sat in the Great Hall for lunch on Saturday. Firstly, they were wondering how on earth James Potter managed to snag **The Purple People Eaters** for a private performance. Secondly, they were wondering how on earth he was still alive after kissing Lily Evans under the mistletoe. And thirdly, they were wondering how he was going to survive a good arse-whooping.

Well, in reality, only one person was wondering that.

"Potter!" Davey Gudgeon bellowed as he walked up to the Gryffindor table, coincidently right behind where Peter and James were sitting.

"You rang?" James asked dryly, trying to clear the pumpkin juice from his ear where Peter had spilled it upon jumping in fright due to the loud noise.

Seething, Davey continued his rather brisk walk until he was nearly nose to nose with the Chaser.

"You… you… you…"

"-Should really wear that color more often, Jamesie, it really brings out your eyes," Sirius supplied.

Sparing a split second for a glare in the direction of the black-haired ruffian, Davey began again.

"You… you… you…"

"-Should come with me to a karaoke bar and we'll sing and dance the night away?" Sirius provided again. This time both Davey and James looked at him strangely, and Sirius felt as if it would be best to just stay out of this conversation.

"You…" Davey tried to look down into James' eyes, perhaps to seem more menacing, but as James was now standing (and a good five inches taller), the effect went to waste.

"Yes, Gudgeon?" James asked, somewhat impatient now that his breakfast time had clearly been interrupted for a terrible reason.

"You stay away from my girlfriend!" He finally managed to finish.

"Congratulations, you finished a senten- What?" James asked, astounded as he finally realized what Davey was saying.

"That's right," Davey said with a smirk, "You stay away from my girlfriend. I-"

"You don't have a girlfriend, Gudgeon," James muttered, slightly shocked. "She wouldn't go out with you, she just wouldn't…"

"Too late, Potter. Too little, too late. She's going out with me. In fact, we're going to be late for our date to Hogsmeade, so if you wouldn't mind, I'll be off and about. On my _date._" He reiterated for what seemed to be the fifth time.

"Have fun!" Peter called out, waving gaily and ignoring the glares he received from both Remus and Sirius. When he finally noticed them however, he asked, "Why would we not be happy he has a date? Its absolutely horrid trying to find a good date when all the good ones want to go out with you lot. I mean…" He trailed off as Remus started mouthing something.

"Well, I mean, flowers can be nice to give a girl, but where can you find a lily at this time of year?" And a split second later. "Oh…"

- -

A very disgruntled Lily was walking down the streets of Hogsmeade fifteen minutes later.

"Just to clarify," She said loudly, "Where are we going?"

"To a great little restaurant I know," Davey replied, huffing for breath as he made sure she was still with him.

And a few minutes later, she was still walking with him down the streets.

"Are we there yet?" She asked him, quite annoyed at the situation. She had been planning to spend the day with the girls, coming back early to do some homework and just think about what had been going on in her life. However, that plan had been scratched when a pitiful Davey Gudgeon had accosted her and practically begged her to come with him to Hogsmeade. Annoyed, but still feeling guilty because she had kissed James, she had agreed to go with him.

Now, however, she was regretting that decision as they seemed to finally come to their destination.

"Voila!" Davey exclaimed, as Lily gaped in horror at the frilly pink lace-edged curtains and the eminently visible kissing couples.

"Er…" She stalled, "Why don't we go to the Three Broomsticks? I've been here before… I'm allergic to lace. Cupids make me dizzy. The food isn't all that great. They use a certain kind of almond extract that makes me break out into hives. They…"

Davey ignored her efforts to stall, and dragged her in there.

"Table for two," He proclaimed to the extremely rotund Madam Puddifoot, "Under the name 'Davey Gudgeon'."

"Of course, Mr. Gudgeon, of course!" Madam Puddifoot replied, whisking them away to a secluded table in the back. With a wink, she handed them small menus (One side pertaining to a list of coffees and teas, on side pertaining to various cakes and puddings) and seemed to sashay back to her post at the "welcoming station".

- - - -

Lily sighed as she tried to prop her head up on her hand.

"And so I tried out for the quidditch team in fifth year, but they couldn't take someone of my skill… they were worried that I would make the other players feel insignificant."

"How interesting," Lily put in, and prayed to Merlin for Davey to change the conversation topic.

He didn't.

"So I'm planning on trying out for a few teams when I graduate. Nothing too big to start out with, of course, just the Magpies or-"

"My friend plays for the Magpies," Lily said monotonously, and then tried to backtrack as she realized what Davey might try and ask her. "I mean, not really a friend. A sibling of a friend. W-"

"Brilliant!" Davey exclaimed, "Perhaps you could ask them to put in a good word for me!"

"-e're not even close at all. Hate each other, in fact," Lily continued. "We never got along. Nope. Never."

"I knew you would do it!" Davey said cheerfully, and grasped her hand, drawing tiny circles on her thumb with his own.

Lily shuddered slightly. Davey was turning into a repeat of Gilderoy Lockheart, and if the change was complete, the rest of this day would most definitely not be pleasant.

The conversation continued as it had been for approximately the next thirty minutes, only interrupted by the ordering of tiramisu and tea. Lily, for all her efforts during her five minute bathroom break, could not convince a house-elf in the kitchen to put a sleeping draught in Davey's tea. Dejected, she dragged herself back to their table.

"So now, Lily, I was thinking that maybe we could get to know each other a little better." Lily rolled her eyes, but thought that maybe this conversation would be a little better than the previous.

A dismal twenty minutes went by, during which Lily learned that Davey's favorite colors were maroon and lavender and had eaten her way through nearly every item on the menu, minus those containing said almond extract, because Davey had apparently paid attention during her protests and did not want her to break out into hives, mo matter how much Lily had been lying at that point. She had also run through all of the muggle movies she had ever seen, listed all of her favorite actors, and had mentally reorganized her closet including her shoes, which as every girl knows takes a good amount of time to do.

She had now taken to speaking every time Davey paused to take a breath, although not intelligently.

"So Lily,"

"Splendid."

"How was growing up with your muggle family?"

"Amazing."

"I'm entirely fascinated by many muggle objects,"

"Of course."

"I took muggle studies and although that really does help,"

"Really?"

"I was wondering if you could take some time and show me how some work?"

"Splendiforous."

"Because I bought one of those TV's over the holidays, but it's broken, and I was wondering if you knew how to fix it."

"Argumentatively sound."

"And- what did you just say?"

"Er…" Lily tried to think of what her last reply had been, as well as what Davey had been talking about, when she spied movement outside the window.

To be precise, she spotted a certain group of four boys and three girls walking down the street.

She conjured up a piece of parchment and wrote a quick note, folding it up in the shape of a paper airplane after she was done. Muttering _Transporto Plagiarius_ under her breath, she watched as the plane flew out the door as it opened to admit yet another couple and hovered in front of James' face. She watched as his face lit up in glee to be getting a note from her, and then watched as his eyebrows narrowed and his quite handsome face looked through the window.

_Quite handsome face?_ She thought. _Where in the name of Merlin did that come from?_ Trying to get back to the subject at hand, she tried to feign interest in Davey's speech while hoping against all odds that James would come up with an ingenious plan to save her.

Or, in other words, come up with more pointless exclamations to say. Since 'argumentatively sound' had ended the previous discussion about muggle objects, the next conversation, which was about Hogwarts classes, should begin with…

"Zero tolerance."

"Precisely my views about people with below an A in N.E.W.T. classes. They should be kicked out, no questions asked."

"Marco polo."

"Excuse me?"

This time Lily was saved by James bursting through the door, looking around, and then running towards her.

"Lily," He said, exaggeratingly panting. "I'm so glad I found you."

"And why would that be, Potter?" Davey asked coldly.

"Because Dumbledore needs us for a meeting," James promptly replied. "He found me just as I was leaving, and asked me to find you and let you know. He wanted to try and catch us before we left for Hogsmeade, but you and Davey left so early there was no time."

Lily wasted no time in getting to her feet and shrugging into her cloak, which was hanging on the back of her chair.

"Terribly sorry, Gudgeon," James said, "Hope you understand." He grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her out, while she smiled sadly at him and said, inspired by a muggle movie she and the girls had seen recently,

"Use the force wisely."

Once they had left the immediate vicinity of Madam Puddifoot's, they both burst out into laughter.

"Use the force wisely?" James repeated, visibly succumbing to his laughter as he collapsed on the ground.

"I ran out of other things to say," Lily said, weakly trying to defend herself, as she covered her mouth with one hand to hide her giggles. She helped James up, and they stood hanging onto each other as they still chortled.

"Ah, glad to see I have finally found you," Professor Dumbledore said from behind them. They spun around and released each other, a light yet visible blush staining both of their cheeks. "Mr. Potter," He said, inclining his head in the young man's direction. "Miss Evans," He continued, looking at Lily intensely, the twinkle in his eyes nearly gone. "Miss Evans," Dumbledore repeated, "If I could have a word with you, in my office." Without waiting for a reply, he took her by the arm and started to shepherd her towards the gates.

"Wait, Professor!" James yelled after a moment's hesitation. "What do you need to talk to her about?"

The elderly Professor turned around, and gazed piercingly into James' eyes.

_I'm terribly sorry, James, _He heard in his mind, _But I must speak with Miss Evans alone. I will most likely be in need of your assistance in an hour or so, so perhaps it would be best if you stayed in one of the common rooms or the kitchens so I can get in touch with you quickly._ Without an uttered word, Dumbledore turned and brought Lily with him, while James somberly went to his dorm, feeling as if something would happen that would cause Lily's world to come crashing down, yet again.

- -

Lily stared at the ominous looking box currently located on Professor Dumbledore's desk.

_How can it even be ominous looking?_ She mused._ It's just a box…_

When Dumbledore cleared his throat she nearly jumped, but managed to stay in her seat.

"Miss Evans," He started, "I just received this in the post this morning." Lily looked at the box knowingly, and sighed.

"Mrs. Brown sent this to me once she was able to procure it. She is terribly sorry that she was not able to get it here sooner, and wishes that she could have been here with you during this time." The severities over with, he rested his chin on his hands, and looked Lily in the eye.

"Miss Evans," Dumbledore murmured, "How are you?"

However, Lily did not hear his question, for she was far too busy thinking about the box.

_It's going to hold everything that I don't want to see… everything I thought I could move past. I don't even want it. If I had my way, I would throw it against the wall. Although that might be a bit hard, because now that I think about it, it's made of wood, not cardboard. A more satisfying crunch might come from throwing out the window. Although Abuela might have charmed it, in which case it wouldn't break. Hmm, it does seem more like a trunk, now that I look at it. I could pick the lock just to thwart it, and then break it open piece by piece, successfully ruining the life of said trunk…_

After sighing, and trying to regain control of her wayward and rambling thoughts, she looked at the box again.

_I can't really blame the box,_ She thought. _It's just bringing me the bad news. It didn't ask to be the messenger. It probably just wants to stay at home, leading an uneventful life where it isn't blamed for anything. I-_

"Can't blame the box," Lily said out loud.

"Yes, Miss Evans," Professor Dumbledore replied.

"Because it really isn't the boxes fault," She continued. "The box didn't ask for this to happen. The box didn't want this to happen."

"Precisely, Miss Evans."

"The last thing the box should want is to be blamed for bad news. The box had no say in the matter."

"Yes, Miss Evans."

"So the last thing anyone could do is to blame the box for…"

"Correct, Miss Evans."

Lily took a deep breath. "So, what you're saying, is that the box could hardly blame themselves for bad things happening that they had no control over?"

Professor Dumbledore nodded, and before he could say anything else Lily had tears pouring down her cheeks. Grabbing the box, she ran out of the room before he could stop her; going, presumably, to her dorm in the Head's Rooms.

With a snap of his fingers, a house-elf appeared at his elbow. Professor Dumbledore leaned low, and asked politely, "If you could, would you please give a message to Mister James Potter for me?"

The house-elf nodded quickly.

"Very well, please tell James that his presence is required in the Head's Rooms. Also, please inform him that if Miss Evans is not located there, it is of the utmost importance to locate her. She needs to be watched over, to make sure she is not harmed."

The elf nodded again, for he liked both James and Lily, and disappeared.

- -

A subdued James Potter walked quickly to his dorm. Tagnot, the house-elf who made the most spectacular treacle tart, had just told him that Professor Dumbledore requested that he return to his rooms, and if Lily was not there to find her.

But find her he did.

"Shh, Lils," He murmured, wrapping his arms around her and sitting on her bed. "It's all right."

She angrily wiped her tears on his sleeve, and looked at him.

"I'm not crying," She insisted.

"Of course not," He replied, rubbing her back softly to calm her down.

"And the box can't be blamed," She whispered with a hiccup.

"Of course no- excuse me?" Lily just shook her head and then leaned it on his shoulder.

"I didn't want to look at this," She said quietly as she picked up a piece of paper from the box.

"All of your parent's things?" James asked, just as quietly. Lily shuddered, but then looked at him.

"You've known all along, haven't you?" She asked, and he nodded. "Since when?"

"Since right after the snowball fight," He replied.

Lily looked shocked, and straightened up. "You've known since then?"

"Well, Sirius has known too," James told her sheepishly. "We figured out together."

She just sighed and murmured, "Thanks for giving me time," before she put her head back on his shoulder, absentmindedly picking through the box.

- -

"And this was my mum's favorite picture of me," Lily said with a smile as she picked up a photograph. It was a wizarding photo, and featured Lily with-

"This was when Sirius and I charmed your hair to be purple!" James exclaimed. "And then you-"

"-Charmed both of yours to be my color of red." She finished with a smile. "Mum loved the fact that she had a picture with some of 'my people', as Tuna put it."

James picked up a document containing a few addresses and some numbers. Handing it to Lily, he remarked, "This looks like it could be important."

Lily smiled. "They left the house to Petunia, of course, but they left me some money. I don't really want it, but… oh well." Her smile got even wider as she picked up a stuffed rabbit.

"Thumper!" She exclaimed loudly. "I thought I had lost you!" Looking at James, she explained. "Bambi is my favorite movie, and for Easter one year my mum got me a stuffed rabbit toy. Of course, I named it Thumper, and we put it out every year for Easter. Mum would even take a picture of him on the table with Easter dinner once I started spending that time here…" She trailed off as a tear made its way down her cheek, and during that time James made a split second decision.

"Lils?" He asked, and she looked at him again. "You don't have anywhere to go for Easter hols, do you?"

She shook her head, but then added, "You know we don't go anywhere. It's just a week, and no one usually goes home."

" But we're seventh years!" James exclaimed. "It's a rule that we have to go home!"

"Really?" She asked dryly.

"Well, not in the rulebook… but that's what seventh years do!"

"It doesn't matter, anyway. I have no place to go. No way in my right mind would I go and willingly spend a week with Tuna-"

"You can stay with me."  
To say she looked shocked would have been an understatement.

"Excuse me?"  
"You can stay at my house," He repeated. "We have plenty of room, and I was planning on having everyone come over at some point, but you can stay with us. That is, if you want to."

She smiled at him. "I'd love to, James." He grinned back, elated, before putting his arms back around her and continuing their voyage through the box.

- - - - - - -

_Authors Note: Sorry that the chapters take awhile… I write myself into corners, unfortunately. _

_But school will be over soon… yay! Only like, three weeks left xD Lucky ducks to all of you who have finished by now, and good luck to everyone who's off to college in the fall!_

_Please review!_

_And don't worry about the goldfish. They're in Sirius' capable hands._

_Well, maybe you should worry…. xD_


	13. Birthday Pranks and Quidditch Games

_Authors Note: So Dude, yeah. Summer has started. Yay! xD This chapter might be a little shorter than normal, if only for the part that I was going to include a very big scene, but it was too sad and I'm in a good mood and don't want to put it in the story yet xD_

_Disclaimer: Er… not mine! Everything you recognize from HP Books is J.K. Rowlings… and by now, it should be easily recognizable what is mine xD_

_Oh, and just to let everyone know… I don't exactly say "Hey, yeah for underage drinking!" Its just that I'm 17, and I know what goes on at parties. I **go** to some of those parties. So yeah. That's all xD_

_Please read and review!_

A somewhat somber two weeks passed, during which the entire gang was extremely aware of the new 'relationship' between Lily and James. Previously, it had been something akin to a strong friendship, but over the course of one tumultuous day it became something more. Not entirely a loving relationship, but something more.

However, they did nothing about it. They hung out more often, but neither brought up that fateful kiss at the Valentine's Day Ball. And while they both shared laughs over the stories Lily told James the day they looked through the contents of the box, neither mentioned how safe Lily felt in James' arms, or how right it seemed when she was there.

And so the group tiptoed around them, skirting around the issue and being careful to comfort Lily whenever possible. This provided for a quiet atmosphere, except for the three days each week they were practicing quidditch; perfect for completing that homework that had been waiting for a week, or building card towers in the shape of leprechauns and the such.

At least until the twenty-seventh of February.

- -

"I can't take it anymore!" Cai Brown cried out dramatically as she sprinted down the dormitory stairs. Everyone in the common room looked at her oddly as she flung herself onto the occupied couch.

"Ow!" A voice cried from under her.

"Oops, Sorry Sirius," She said, but didn't get up. "I can't take it anymore!" Cai repeated, and Sirius asked,

"Can't take what?"

"The silence!" She said, throwing her arms out and gesturing at the common room. Sirius looked at curiously, for the common room was ablaze with life. In fact, there was a game of exploding snap going on in the corner that he might join in on once Cai got off of his lap.

"It's just too damn quiet!" Cai yelled, and immediately she heard Lily say sharply,

"Language, Cai!"

"Fine, its too darn-diddly-arndt quiet!" She reiterated, and both she and Sirius laughed.

"Er, Cai," He said. "You do realize it's very noisy in here, right?"

She nodded.

"Then why are you saying it's too quiet?"

She looked around cautiously before murmuring, "We're too quiet. All of us."

Sirius nodded in agreement.

"But I've got it covered, don't worry!" She told him, and got off of his lap. As Sirius went to join the fourth years in their corner, she went to Ash and Stephanie, before they all dragged Lily to her own common room.

- -

"All right," Cai said loudly, pacing in front of the three girls like a sergeant. "Tomorrow is my birthday, correct?"

"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" The girls said with a salute.

"We shall commence the day by referring to myself as 'Queen Cai' at all times, right?"

"Aye, aye, Cap'n!"

"And no day will be complete without a prank, correct?"

"Aye, ay-"

"All right, all right, enough of that. And it's 'Queen'. Now, for the planning…"

The girls immediately clumped together, and all that could be heard was a few odd statements, such as, "Polka dots!" and "Neon Pink!" and "Lime Green!" and "Spain!" followed by very loud giggles (from a very loud blonde).

Once they had ironed out the minor details of their prank (such as what it was), they set about to actually talking.

"Well, let's settle out positions." Stephanie said logically. "Or rather, roles. Cai is like James, our leader… mainly because its her birthday. I suppose Ash can be the Sirius, or the goofball," Here she good-naturedly smirked at Ash, who buffed her nails against her collar and grinned back. "I suppose I'm like Remus… the mediator of sorts, although without that furry little problem. I mean, if someone has an insane mad rabid rabbit, wouldn't you just give it to Sirius to have to deal with? And Lily…" Here she paused, and grimaced. "I swear Lily, I didn't mean for it to work out like this. I completely swear. I didn't mean for you to turn out to be-"

"The lackey!" Lily yelped. "I'm Peter? The lackey!" She pretended to faint from shock, falling back on the plush sofa. They all giggled, somewhat drunk on laughter and pranks at this point.

"All right girls," Cai said seriously, clasping her hands evilly and punctuating it with a somewhat maniacal laugh, "We're going to need to sneak around and get some things…"

- -

The four sat excitedly in the center of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall the morning of the twenty-eighth. The boys looked at them warily, knowing that they were up to something, but not exactly sure what.

"Er… Happy Birthday, Cai," Remus said slowly while Sirius, James, and Peter edged to their seats cautiously.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday," They chorused, checking their seats inconspicuously before sitting down.

Cai grinned. "Happy Birthday to me," She sang quietly, and the four of them started laughing evilly.

"Just for the record," James asked, "Does this have anything to do with us?"

The four girls shook their heads, and the boys relaxed somewhat. However, their attention was piqued as the girls ceased their laughing and a small boy entered the Great Hall. Now, for the first time, the boys noticed the lack of certain people in the hall.

To be precise, the lack of Slytherins. None of them were located in the hall, except for the small boy, now to be identified as first year Slytherin Andrew Lewis, currently walking up to the Headmaster rather quickly. Leaning across the table, he listened to the boy's explanation, and pondered for a minute before murmuring to him. Andrew shrugged and walked back to the double doors at the entrance, before going through and apparently motioning for people to come.

However, when first, second, and third year Slytherins entered with no visible afflictions, the boys' spirits were crushed.

"Too bad, girls," Sirius murmured to them. However, they were still grinning gleefully.

"Wait, what did you do?" Remus inquired, but they shushed him as impeding footsteps heralded the arrival of the rest of the Slytherin house.

Immediate laughter broke out in the hall, exempting the teachers and Slytherins, although Dumbledore and McGonagall seemed to be trying to stifle smiles.

For as soon as they had entered, the population of Hogwarts had set eyes upon a very funny sight.

The entire population of upper years of Slytherin wearing bright pink and lime green robes, as well as sporting those hair colors.

Even the younger Slytherins were laughing, although some were looking around cautiously, trying to avoid anything happening to them.

No one was laughing harder, though, then a population of eight currently residing at Gryffindor table, although Remus was trying to stifle his laughter at McGonagall's glare. She strode down from the Head Table, and immediately grabbed James and Sirius' shoulders, dragging them up from the table.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Black," She seethed, "Up to your shenanigans again?" They paled.

This just made the girls laugh harder.

"Maybe two weeks in detention will help to cure these reoccurring problems," McGonagall continued.

"But Minnie!" Sirius pleaded. "It wasn't me! I swear it wasn't!"

"Always with the pretend innocence Black, always with the innocence. I won't take your excuses or reasons anymore! It's been close to seven years that I have been listening, and I won't take it anymore, do you hear me?"

The girls had now dissolved into laughter, falling weakly onto the table (Cai landing in her pancakes and bacon on the way down) as McGonagall dragged James and Sirius away to iron out the details of their detentions.

"Part of your plan?" Remus asked dryly, arching an eyebrow.

"No," Cai said weakly, "But it was one of the best birthday presents ever!"

- -

"Scratch my previous statement," Cai said gleefully during History of Magic. "This is the best birthday present ever." The entire class of Gryffindors laughed yet again as Professor Binns mentioned Spain-

"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Snape crowed from his seat, his robes changing to bright red for a few seconds before going back to pink and green.

Cai and Stephanie had added, thoughtfully, a bit of a tribute to Monty Python in their prank, enjoying themselves immensely.

They, however, had planned on talking about Cai's trip to Spain that would occur over the summer any time they came in the vicinity of one Severus Snape.

What they did not count on was Professor Binns talking about Spain and La Escuela de Los Artes Magicos, as well as impressive graduates from Spain-

"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Snape crowed again, and then tried to scrunch down in his seat unsuccessfully as the class burst out into laughter again, the entire situation completely ignored (Or not noticed) by the ghostly Professor.

- -

"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Could still be heard faintly down the hallway as the group of eight trudged outside for the final stop of Cai's day. Jumping onto broomsticks, they immediately started a game of pass the quaffle.

Or, in other words, pass the quaffle to Cai, prevent Lily from falling off her broom, keep Ash from trying to bash Sirius' head in, pass to James, save Sirius, avoid Peter, bonk Remus in the head and take the 'book' out of Stephanie's hands.

"Best birthday ever!" Cai exclaimed gleefully as they went back up to the common room two hours later. With almost all of the snow melted, and fairly warm temperatures, they had persuaded a few other students to join them in a pick-up game of quidditch. Now, as they all sat in the common room in front of the fire, Cai was opening the presents her friends gave her, as well as things from her family.

"Thanks so much, Lils!" She exclaimed as she opened a stack of bracelets from her friend. She already had received earrings from Ash, some Monty Python 'books' from Stephanie, and a broom polishing kit from Peter and Sirius. After opening a set of Quidditch handbooks from James, she set about to opening her family's things. While her brother got her an authentic jersey from Mauricio Travis, star chaser for the Magpies (and it was authentic, for the note that accompanied it said '_Cai, don't tell Mauricio who took his extra jersey, all right? Much love, Chris_'), her father got her a silver heart necklace, her grandmother gave her a new wizarding wireless, and her mother…

"I still can't believe that your mum sent you a brochure for a Spanish school!" Stephanie exclaimed a few days later. "We're already three quarters through our seventh year!" Cai shrugged, and continued eating her way through the contents of the Gryffindor Table.

"It's nothing new," Cai replied after she finished chewing. "She's already sent me brochures for Beauxbatons and the Salem Witches Institute." She wiped her mouth with her napkin, and stood up.

"Ready to go, boys?" She asked, smoothing out her quidditch robes. Today was their first game against Ravenclaw, and James was understandably nervous.

"Yeah Cai," Sirius said, and pulled James up by the shoulder. "We'll see you guys out there," He told the rest of them before he and Cai dragged James over to their other teammates and then out of the hall.

- -

"And welcome to another exciting game of quidditch!" Brian Miller shouted. "Today we have third place Ravenclaw against the reigning champions, Gryffindor!" Here he paused for effect as about half of the stands cheered. "And now let's hear it for the Ravenclaw lineup. Chasers Kaller, Loon, and Moore…"

The Gryffindor team drowned out his voice as they huddled together by their entrance to the pitch.

"All right team," James said loudly. "We've got this one in the bag. We're unstoppable."

"Nothing can stop us!" Sirius broke in, and the entire team rolled their eyes.

"I think I just said that man," James said good-naturedly. "But what we said. We can't be stopped. So let's go out there and win this one!" He high-fived everyone on the team before taking his position at the flapping curtain.

"And now for Team Gryffindor!" He heard Brian Miller say. "Chasers Brown and Oaks, Beaters Black and Callwell, Keeper Bennett, Seeker Lloyd, aaaaannnd…their Captain and Chaser, Potter!" They all zoomed onto the pitch as their names were called to the cheers of the crowd, Cai and the exuberant sixth year Katie Oaks exchanging high fives and doing loop-de-loops as they went.

"Madam Hooch has the quaffle," Brian announced excitedly, eager for the game to start. She releases the snitch and the bludgers, and… off they go! The first game of this quidditch season has begun!" The crowds whooped in appreciation, and all watched excitedly as the three Gryffindor chasers raced for the Ravenclaw goals. Pulling an extremely difficult reverse pass, James rocketed the red ball back to Cai who easily put it through the left hoop, earning Gryffindor ten points. The three quickly reverted back to Parkin's Pincer, successfully distracting the Ravenclaw chasers and earning themselves another point as Katie quickly tucked the quaffle into the center hoop.

However, as the score reached 160-40 in favor of Gryffindor, the spirits of both teams were reaching new and lower depths.

"Hurry up and catch the snitch quickly!" James shouted to Tristan Lloyd. "It's not the heat of summer, and we're all freezing!" True to his word, the somewhat brisk temperatures had caught up to both teams, causing frequent spasms of shivering to go through them. Tristan seemed to not notice James' words for he lazily spiraled around the pitch. Changing direction at the last second however, he quickly rocketed for the Slytherin section of the stands and grasped the Golden Snitch in his left hand.

James' face seemed to explode his grin was so big, and he screamed joyfully as he flew his broom down to the ground. _We won!_ Was the only thought racing through his mind as he was tackled by the rest of the team, and subsequently the entire Gryffindor population. He came out of his stupor to find Cai crowd-surfing with Sirius, Katie twirling in circles with Tristan and Aaron Bennett, their keeper, and Harvey Callwell was excitedly shaking everyone's hands and telling them about the great bludgers he hit.

Lily's face swarmed in front of him, and they both smiled.

"You were excellent!" She shouted over the din of the crowd, and when he didn't seem to hear at first she leaned in close to yell it in his ear. However, the jostling crowd had other ideas, as Lily suddenly found herself off balance and colliding into James. He wrapped his arms around her waist to keep both of them from falling, and looked down into her eyes.

"You were excellent," She said again, and this time he heard her.

"Thanks," He said sheepishly before releasing her. After a moment's pause, he said loudly, "Let's go to the kitchens and get some party food, all right?" Lily nodded, so James grabbed her arm and safely dragged her out of the crowds.

- -

"And so I said to the man, that's not a hippogriff, that's my mother!" A slightly inebriated Sirius said in the common room.

"Sirius," Peter said, "You haven't even seen your mother in two years. How could you tell what she looks like?"

"Beats me!" He replied, and both broke out into laughter.

"All right," Lily called out. "Who spiked the butterbeer?" They all looked at James, who shrugged.

"I think it was Sirius," James said, pointing to the man in question who was now on his ninth 'butterbeer' and dancing with… no one.

Lily sighed, but just shrugged. "Ah well," She told a slightly shocked James, "We won. It's time for celebrating. But if I think I'm going to keep Sirius and Ash away from each other, if that's all right with you."

James grinned wryly, remembering what happened last time Sirius and Ash were near each other while drinking the 'butterbeers' Sirius provided. They had snogged for a bit before passing out (They had both been on the team at that point and were exhausted), and although they had both remembered what had happened, Sirius had decided to ignore it and Ash had gotten very upset.

"Oy, Lils!" Ash shouted as she came in the room. "Have you seen Sirius anywhere?" Both of them sighed, and went to separate their friends before anything could happen.

- - -

A week later, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was found on the pitch, this time against Hufflepuff. Due to the excessive amount of snow and ice present at Hogwarts during the past few months, they had decided to schedule the spring games to start in March instead of early February. As a result however, the games were scheduled for nearly every weekend, with Gryffindor drawing the short stick and having two games in a row.

"All right team," James said in the locker-room a few minutes before they had to set out. "I know that we won the last game, and that Hufflepuff is currently in fourth place. But we need to keep it together. We can't get all cocky and just assume that we're going to win. D'you know why?" He asked, and Cai shouted,

"Because we'll make an arse out of you and me!" The entire team chuckled nervously, and heard Brian Miller announce,

"And now, Gryffindor!"

They all walked calmly out of the room, slapping each other on the shoulders before mounting their brooms and entering the stadium.

- -

"Sirius!" An extremely annoyed James Potter yelled twenty minutes later. "Would you actually hit the bludgers for a change!"

He watched on as Sirius performed two loop-de-loops in succession, and then stuck his tongue out at him.

"Give me a few, Jamesie!" He replied back, blowing a kiss to someone in the crowd.

"Sirius!" James shouted again, this time flying over to him. "If you don't get your act together, I'm calling in the reserves."

"You can't do that, Jamesie," Sirius replied cheekily as he blew another kiss, "We don't have any reserves!" James rolled his eyes.

"I'll get Ash up here-"

"You can't do that!" Sirius shrieked. "She's-"

"I don't want to hear any reasons," James told him, "Just get to work!" He sped off as he heard Cai calling him, and got there in time to catch the quaffle and enter the scoring area. Distracting the keeper, he then rocketed the cherry-colored ball back to the blonde, flying out of the scoring area just in time for her to enter and neatly put the quaffle in the right hoop. After doing a quick barrel roll to celebrate, she pumped her fist in the air. However, she did not notice the bludger coming right for her.

"Cai, move!" James yelled, but she didn't hear him, and he watched as the bludger hit her right knee and she fell to the ground.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle to signify a stoppage in play, and the entire team minus Tristan quickly flew to the ground and huddled around their injured chaser; James having told Tristan numerous times during the season to keep circling and keep an eye out for the snitch.

The tall blonde girl was currently huddled in a ball, one hand protectively holding her knee, the other keeping her broomstick from hitting the ground. Katie quickly took hold of the broom, and Cai shrieked as the movement jostled her, moving her knee around.

"Cai, this looks pretty bad," Sirius said bluntly, and James hit him on the back of the head. They were pushed aside as Madam Hooch and Madam Pomfrey entered the huddle.

"Honestly," Madam Hooch muttered, "Aiming the bludger at a player without the quaffle is illegal!" She then looked at Madam Pomfrey, who was tending to Cai's knee. "She'll have to exit the game," She informed James, who frowned.

"No, I'm all right!" Cai chirped, plastering a smile on her face. "I'm fine! I can keep playing!" She tried to rise, but Madam Pomfrey gently pushed her back down.

"Now Miss Brown, would you please relax. This knee has to be wrapped, and you must come back to the hospital wing so I can heal it."

Cai broke free of her hold, and stood. "No, I swear, I'm fine." When Madam Pomfrey glared at her, she insisted, "It's just a flesh wound!"

"Really?" Sirius asked, "It looks like a giant orange to me." Indeed, Cai's knee had swelled, and was bright red. Of course, Sirius couldn't identify colors.

"It's red, you numbskull, not orange," She replied. He shrugged, and Katie handed Cai back her broom.

"We're ready to go, Madames Pomfrey, Hooch!" James said. The team mounted their brooms, and Hooch sighed before blowing her whistling, announcing a resume in play and a foul shot that would be taken by Gryffindor.

"Seriously Cai, are you all right?" James asked her as they flew side by side. She grinned wryly.

"It's as dad says, James," She told him.

"Pain is a state of mind that prevents you when helping your teammates when they need you the most," They chorused together, and chuckled before Cai flew off to take the shot and James situated himself halfway along the pitch in order to block any returns.

- - -

The next day, after winning the game 360 to 50, everyone (meaning everyone fourth year and under) was gathered around Cai in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Does it hurt?" One of the first years asked, reaching out a hand to poke her knee before having his hand slapped away by a fourth year.

"Don't touch!" They admonished, and listened to Cai's words.

"It hurts terribly," She replied with a sigh, "But I'll pull through."

"Would some chocolate cake help?" The first year asked, and Cai sighed again.

"It might," She replied weakly, and the boy ran off to the Great Hall. James started laughing, and watched as Ash waved off the crowd.

"All right, children, all right," She announced. "Cai needs to take a little nap now, so why don't you lot go do homework or something?" They all looked at Cai, and she nodded to them, so they all ran in opposite directions.

"Ah, the life of being a celebrity," She said weakly with a wave of her hand.

"They're all gone now, Cai," Stephanie said, and the blonde sat up straighter.

"Oh, all right then!" She said exuberantly. "Can I go now?" The entire gang burst out into laughter. After the game, they had trooped to the Hospital Wing to have Madam Pomfrey check out Cai's knee. Finding only some swelling and a few very nasty bruises, the matron bustled the entire group out of the infirmary, stating that maybe having an injury would teach Cai a lesson.

It seemed to not be working, as the first year returned with an entire chocolate cake.

"I found a house elf!" He exclaimed excitedly. "And he said anything for the great Cai Brown, blonde of all blondes and Chaser extraordinaire!"

"You found Hula-hoop!" Cai replied as excitedly.

"His name is Harvey," Lily told her, but Cai shook her head.

"No, it's Hula-hoop!" Having been through this battle before, Lily just shook her head before settling into an armchair and opening up a book. However, her reading (As well as the conversations of everyone else) were interrupted by a scream emanating from the boys dormitories of the tower. Doing a quick check, Remus deduced that the only one missing was Sirius.

"Oh dear," Ash said sadly, "I wonder what's wrong now?"

They did not have to wait long to find out, as Sirius made his way down the staircase dejectedly. When he sensed everyone's eyes on him, he looked up at them and bawled,

"They're dead!" They all jumped, and looked around to make sure that all of the Marauders were present.

"Who's dead?" Stephanie asked.

"The goldfish!" He replied, wiping a tear away from his eye. They all sat silently, a bit stunned by this statement, until Ash started to chuckle.

"It's not funny!" Sirius said sadly, and she quickly sobered.

"Not very funny, Siri," She said in reply, "But you do realize they had to die eventually. I mean, they're goldfish, for Merlin's sake!"

"They're supposed to live longer than two months and-" Sirius replied earnestly.

"Sixty three days, Sirius, is the lifespan of a magical goldfish," Remus replied as everyone looked at him strangely. "And no, that's not something I researched. It said so on the tag." Once everyone seemed reassured that Remus was not some person who researched goldfish for fun, he continued. "And yours lasted sixty five. A miracle of sorts, but they had to die soon."

"But muggle goldfish-"

"Muggle goldfish last less than two days," Stephanie said. "Wouldn't have been much better, Sirius… Oy, Sirius, where are you going?"

The entire common room found out fifteen minutes later as they were assembled onto the edge of the quidditch pitch in a makeshift funeral.

"Here lie Fred, George, and Fork," Remus said solemnly as Sirius wiped his eyes with a tissue. "They were the best goldfish a boy could have. And they will be sorely missed." At a shake of Remus' head, the younger students started to disperse, although one could hear a few of them murmur,

"Why did we have to come to a funeral for goldfish?"

"Why are they buried on a pitch?"

"Where did my jewelry box go? It was in my pocket a few minutes ago!"

Sirius just continued to wipe his eyes on a tissue.

Peter tried to be compassionate. "Y'know, Sirius, its really hard to say goodbye to someone. Especially goldfish."

Sirius nodded tearfully, although everyone just looked at Peter strangely.

"Well," He replied indignantly, "It is rather hard to tell where their ears are!"

"They so loved quidditch," Sirius murmured. "They loved it when I took them to quidditch games-"

"You took them to quidditch games?" Stephanie asked curiously.

"Yeah," Ash replied grouchily. "And I was the one who had to make sure they weren't hit by the bludgers that Sirius would hit all over the place, trying to impress them."

"So **that's **what was going on at the game yesterday," James said thoughtfully. "I was wondering why Sirius was doing loop-de-loops and blowing kisses into the crowd. He stopped doing that after fifth year, when you sidelined a bludger at him," He told Ash. The brunette grinned.

"Ah, I remember that. We-" She broke off as Sirius let out an extremely loud sob, and rolled her eyes as he collapsed to the ground.

"Note to self," She said, "Never let Sirius get anymore pets."

_Authors Note: So that's the tragic end of the goldfish. _

_I actually had a friend who brought her goldfish to one of our soccer games, so that's where that came from xD_

_-tear-_

_So… please review!_


	14. Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and

_Authors Note: Wow, can't believe how far this story is going. First it was only one chapter… now I'm writing the fourteenth. Woohooo!_

_I hope everyone's summers went all right!_

_Disclaimer: HP is J.K.R's stuff. Not mine._

_And I'm really sorry for taking like, 500 years to get this chapter out –cringes-_

_Read and review, please!_

_--------------------------------------------------------------_

_­_The gang sat in the Gryffindor Common Room that Tuesday afternoon, talking amongst themselves and doing their homework.

Or in other terms, listening as Cai regaled everyone with more stories of her injury in between making up Divination homework with Sirius.

"Hmm… hey Sirius, you get eaten by ostriches on the fifth and the seventeenth," She told him.

"Better change that," He said. "Instead of ostriches, I'll get eaten by llamas on the seventeenth… oops; I'd better change the fourteenth then. I shouldn't be eaten by llamas three days after I make peace with their warring nation."

Cai nodded in agreement while the rest of the group looked on in a bit of fear.

"Oh, hey Cai, you better change the twenty-third."

Cai looked at her piece of parchment and then looked at Sirius curiously.

"Why?" She asked. "It just says that I'm going to be chased by flaming flying penguins. I already checked, I haven't repeated it."

Sirius just shook his head. "Oh dear sweet, naïve, innocent little Cai. Penguins can't fly. Everyone knows that!" With another shake of his head, he rose and beckoned for everyone to come closer.

In retrospect, this action seemed to make everyone scoot farther away, but Sirius just started talking.

"Now, as you all know, my birthday is in two weeks and four days-" He broke off as he glared at the entire group for rolling their eyes. Clearing his throat, he continued. "I have a few requests that I would like to make of you all. Firstly, I would like you all to present me with gifts. Secondly, I would like to play at least three games of quidditch during the day, seeing as it will be a Saturday. Thirdly-" His list continued on, with item 37 being a request of everyone to wear glamour charms to look like him, and with item 56 being a request to have the **Purple People Eaters** make another quest appearance, this time at his birthday party.

"And finally, item sixty-three, part b is-"

"Sirius, enough!" Ash broke in. "Just shut up already!"

Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed morosely. "Ah, the trials and tribulations of an unappreciated soul."

--------------------------------------

Precisely two weeks and four days later, the gang was found in the common room (yet again), this time "celebrating" the miraculous birth of one Sirius Orion Black.

However, it was more like listening to another speech which provided a chronology of Sirius's other birthdays.

"And so, on my fourteenth birthday, I found myself looking into the spoon used to eat my cake and ice cream. And then I wondered, is there more to life other than being really, really, ridiculously good-looking?"

The entire group groaned, and James asked Remus,

"Maybe if we clap, he'll stop?" Both of them shrugged, but Remus watched on with extreme delight as James rose and clapped, causing Sirius to bow and take a seat.

"Thank Merlin," They heard Ash mutter, and everyone started laughing.

"Second order of business," Sirius said, ignoring Ash's comment. "Where is everyone going for the Easter week?"

"James' house for the first part, and then I'm going to Abuela's house for Thursday through Sunday night, and back to James' house so they can take me to Kings Cross," Cai said with a grin.

"All right Cai, sounds like a plan," James muttered. "Maybe you should've talked to me first?"

Cai rolled her eyes and ruffled James' hair. "Oh, but Jimmy, then it wouldn't be as much fun! Besides, I already talked to your darling mummy and she said it was fine." The entire group laughed, and Peter took the opportunity to speak.

"I'm going home for the entire week… Dad wants me to meet some business associates of his. But I might be able to join you guys for the last day, I'll have to ask."

"Hopefully there will be a few girls there for you, Petey!" Sirius said with a laugh, eliciting a few chuckles from the males and glares from the girls. "Ah, ha, just kidding girls. Just kidding… no reason to attack me! You can't, 'cause I'm very important! I have many leather-bound books and my home smells of rich mahogany!"

The entire group stared at him.

"Well, Jim-bob's house smells of rich mahogany…"

"I'm going to the States to visit my cousins," Stephanie said, while Remus at the same time muttered,

"Looks like I'm stuck with those lunatics at James' house."

"Seems like I've got the whole gang at my house this vacation," James remarked casually, for Ash lived across town from him and frequently visited.

"What about Lily?" Peter asked. "She hasn't told us anything."

Lily murmured something under her breath, but nobody could hear what she said.

"Oh Lily," Sirius drawled, "Perhaps you could speak a little louder. I couldn't hear what your remark was under that oh-so-casual mumble you uttered."

"I'm going to James' house," Lily repeated, this time a little bit louder. Cai let out a 'whoop' of excitement as Stephanie and Ash exchanged knowing smiles.

"Oh really?" Sirius asked with a grin, elbowing James in the side.

"Yeah really," He replied with a smile.

- -- - -- ------

A crumpled up piece of parchment made its way from Stephanie's hand to Cai's forehead, ricocheting off to land in Ash's hair to join the other pieces of parchment already in residence there.

"Would you guys just pay attention?" Lily moaned from her seat at the table. They were currently located in the library, situated at a table that around which studying was supposed to occur.

Swish, thwomp, fwap… Parchment balls: thirteen; Ash's hair: zero.

"' C'mon guys," Lily pleaded. "Now… what did Biznit the Third do?"

"He led the hobgoblins through the mage-goblin war of 1347. They won the war, but Biznit the Third was killed by a mage assassin in 1378. His son, Biznit the Fourth, was not well situated for rule, and let the goblin country demise until it was easily taken over by the mages once more in 1423. This war is one reason as to present-day goblin situations," Cai recited, as if from memory. Lily seemed shocked that Cai remembered these facts, but that shock only lasted until she noticed the window behind her.

"Cai!" She yelled.

"Miss Evans!" Madame Pince admonished, and Lily ducked her head.

"Sorry Madame Pince," She said. "Cai," Lily continued in an angry whisper, "You can't just charm windows to read over my shoulder any time you feel like it. How are you going to pass the N.E.W.T. that way?"

Cai shrugged. "I don't even know how I made it into the class."

Ash nodded in agreement. "It's true, she asked Professor Binns the first day of classes and we couldn't get a straight answer out of him! He just muttered something about a Miss Blue and an O on her O.W.L., but we all know that Cai barely scraped an A, so we didn't know what he meant."

A winded James Potter burst into the library and, seeing the girls, walked quickly to them, dodging the stare of Madame Pince along the way. He then crouched by Lily's chair.

"Have you guys seen Peter?" He asked hurriedly, looking around the library.

"Nah, not since yesterday," Cai said off-handedly, absentmindedly flipping through the pages of her textbook.

Stephanie nodded her agreement. "Yeah, the last time I saw him was at supper last night. Do you think he's okay?"

"I'm sure he's fine," James told them. "Lily, could I speak with you?"

"But James, we really have to study-"

"Brilliant then," He interjected, grabbing her elbow and lifting her up. She rolled her eyes, but followed him to around a bookshelf, grabbing her bag on the way.

"We need your help, Lils," James pleaded. "We can't find Peter, and we need him to press the knot."

Lily just stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"The knot, Lily." When she seemed to still not know what he was talking about, he lowered his voice. "On the whomping willow!" He said in a whisper.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. "D'you need me to go find Peter then?"

James smacked his forehead with his hand. "No, we need a small animal that has human-like thought processes and is very smart."

"Professor McGonagall, then?"

James smacked himself again. Lily really didn't comprehend this, although who was to blame her. A study session with Stephanie, Ash, and Cai would try anyone's patience and cause them to be mentally exhausted.

Which is why only Lily was still crazy enough to attempt it.

"We need you!" He whispered heatedly, enjoying the reaction he got.

"Oh," She murmured. She grinned ruefully. "I suppose that was a bit of a stupid response there."

James started laughing, but through his laughter he was able to speak into the cord around his wrist. "All right, Padfoot, Foxy McFox is a go. I repeat, Foxy McFox is a go!" Lily stared at him.

"My code name is Foxy McFox?" She whispered mournfully. James nodded, grinning hugely, and dodged the fist that came his way.

"The fox is getting agitated," James muttered into the cord. "Evasive procedures! Evasive procedures!" Sirius quickly ran into the library, ignoring the indignant shrieks of Madam Pince, and made his way over to the girls' table.

"We've got to borrow Lily for the rest of the night, peachy?"

They all nodded, giggling amongst themselves, as Sirius ran over to James and helped him carry the struggling redhead out of the library.

- - - - -------------

"All right," Sirius told Lily. "All we need you to do is transform, run under the branches of doom and destruction that will rip you apart, press that innocent looking knot on the deadly trunk, and then you can go back up to the castle and enjoy a relaxing night's rest."

"All right," Lily said, staring with apprehension at the wildly swinging tree. They were just out of range of its branches, perched on a low stone wall marking a few meters outside of its reach.

"Spiffing," James said. "Let's go to it. We don't have that much time left."

Lily looked at them hesitantly, and transformed before scampering under the branches. James and Sirius both held their breath for the minute it took her to locate the knot, and sighed with relief when the branches froze. Quickly making their way through the frozen appendages of the willow, they all slid into the passageway.

Lily quickly transformed back, coughing a bit because the passage was very dusty.

"This is where we leave you, my fairest Lily," Sirius said with a bow. "If anything goes wrong, let's say, I dunno, you get mad at Cai for not studying and accidentally chuck her out on the grounds, **_please_** come and let us know. Transform, find us, and I dunno… bite James or something." Lily bit her lip anxiously, and quickly gave both of them hugs before nodding, transforming, and making her way back to above ground, leaving James with a goofy smile on his face.

"Snap out of it, loverboy," Sirius said with a bark-like laugh, elbowing his friend in the stomach. "We'd best be off."

Lily sighed as she made her way in animal form back up to the castle. No matter how she had broken out of that "goody-two-shoes" phase that lasted from first year to fifth, she still did not like breaking the rules. And being an illegal animagus was definitely breaking the rules.

A hushed sob met her ears, and she cringed. She had almost decided to slip around the person when she remembered Sirius' words.

_Oh damn_, she thought. _They wouldn't._ But a howling that met her ears testified to the fact that yes, they would indeed take Remus out onto the grounds for a casual jaunt in the moonlight. Terrific. Making her way through the bushes that seemed to surround the lake, she came upon a Hufflepuff fourth year who she vaguely recognized, sobbing into her hands and wrapping her cloak around her.

_Why couldn't my animal form be big and scary?_ Lily mused as she wondered how she was going to get the girl back up to the castle. Deciding to go ahead with **_plan a_**, the only plan running through her head at the moment, she let out a little yip and growled at the girl.

_Be afraid!_ Lily begged silently. _Be very afraid! Run away for your own safety! I'm a rabid little fox! I'll bite you, I will!_

"Aww, what an adorable little fox! D'you want to play?" The girl asked, forgetting her tears.

…_Damn…_

- - - - -------------

_Would you look at this, Jim-bob… it's a pile of leaves! And look, another pile of leaves! And dirt! Lots of dirt!_

James snorted in irritation. Having been friends for so long, as well as animagi for a better part of that friendship, they were somehow able to 'speak' to each other while in their animal forms.

It was times like these, when Sirius let the animal instincts take over, when James regretted having ever met the boy.

_A tree!_ Crowed the enthusiastic black dog, and James nudged him with his antlers, gesturing towards Remus.

_D'you wanna go into the woods, or by the lake? _He asked Padfoot. He was awaiting Sirius' response, but he was not expecting what came next.

_Lily?_ Sirius asked hesitantly, and the fox sitting at his feet looked at him impatiently.

_Is something wrong?_ James asked silently.

When_ Yes… bushes… year…cry..._ was all that came across, James realized that they could only understand Lily's broken thoughts, and that she might only be able to understand portions of what they were saying.

That didn't stop Sirius, however.

_Hit the ground twice with your left paw for 'Yes, something's wrong', and hit it three times for 'No, I just felt like visiting you lovely lads'._

The thought seemed to get to her, for the glare that Lily the Fox gave Sirius could have cowed the sun, and provided enough energy for the muggle world for generations. It seemed to say, 'No matter how much you would like to think so, I am not a counting horse.'

The message seemed to get across to Sirius, who immediately busied himself by pointing out the obvious bits of agriculture strewn about the Hogwarts grounds. Again.

_What's wrong, Lils?_ James wondered, but he didn't have to wait long.

With an exasperated sigh that looked extremely out of place on the fox, the contrite Lily sunk her teeth into James' lower leg.

After a moment of wondering why exactly they were friends with this insane being, he remembered what the bite was to mean.

_Oh damn_. _Padfoot, go get Remus and bring him back to the shack. I'm gonna go follow Lily and handle this._ The dog nodded emphatically, and James motioned for Lily to direct him towards wherever the person was.

- - - - - ------------

"Guys, I'm bored," Cai exclaimed as she hit her head on the back of the armchair.

"Cai, we're all bored," Stephanie informed the blonde. "You just seem to be the only one who needs to vocalize it."

"Guys, now I'm really, really, bored," She reiterated. Both Ash and Stephanie sighed.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Ash asked them after a few minutes, and had to take a calming breath as Cai rushed out of the common room.

"I suppose that was a yes…" Stephanie murmured, shaking her head.

The girls found themselves walking around the main entrance of Hogwarts twenty minutes later.

"Guys-"

"Cai, we already know you're bored."

"But-"

"And no, seeing how many times we can escape from Filch is not our idea of fun."

"Hey-"

"No! Not another peep!"

"Peep?" Cai asked Stephanie hesitantly. "Peep? Who uses the word peep!" The brunette just walked away from them, muttering about how the use of the English language had declined. The other two laughed as they followed her to the small side door located in the next hallway over, and then they all proceeded out into the brisk air blowing across the moonlit grounds.

- - - ----------

While the three girls were making their way out of that exit, James and Lily were trying to coerce the girl into coming inside.

"C'mon, Bernice, Lily and I just came from inside. Everyone's worried about where you are. Margot and Anita and going crazy because they're blaming themselves. Please, come back inside."

_Wow, this boy is good_, Lily thought. _I didn't even know the girl's name, and I barely remembered what year she was in. Yet he manages to remember everything about her. _

A howl broke through her thoughts, and James redoubled his efforts.

"Listen, Bernice, if you don't come-"

"Whatever made that howling noise is going to come and eat you." Lily broke in. "Aaawoooo! Very scary, it is."

James sent her a look that clearly implied that she was not helping. However, when another howl came he took decisive action.

"You just stupefied a student, James!" Lily whispered heatedly. "Stupefied! What is wrong with you?"

"I had to get her to go somewhere else," James whispered back. "So just bring her up to the castle, and I'll go handle Moony."

"Oh really, and how is that going to happen? I may be strong, James, but Bernice is a good six inches taller than me and I doubt that I'll be able to carry her two meters, much less all the way up to the castle."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, besides the fact that you are a _witch_ and can use a levitating spell, the girls are nearly right behind us and can help you bring her to the castle. Now go!" He hissed the last sentence, and with seemingly little effort his animagus form was seen trotting off in the direction of the howls. Lily turned around, and met the worried faces of her three best friends.

"No explanations now. I need your help. Are you in or out?"

- - --------------

Muffled curses would have met the ears of any passers-by as Lily, Ash, Stephanie, and Cai carried the girl up to the castle.

"Put a little back into it, men!" Cai warbled cheerfully, and started singing a camping song that she had picked up from muggle camp one year.

"Shut it!" Ash whispered, smacking Cai in the back of the head.

"Ow!" The girl replied, and stopped moving only to be crashed into by Stephanie.

"Geez, Cai, a little warning might be nice. You really-"

"Would you guys be quiet?" Lily groaned. "You all forgot that we need to get Bernice up to the castle, and quick." The girls looked ready to question her, but yet another howling met their ears.

"Is that what we're running from?" Cai asked hesitantly. Lily refrained from rolling her eyes, and nodded solemnly.

"All right," Ash answered for all of them. "Me 'n Lily will grab her shoulders, Cai and Steph will grab her legs, and we'll go as fast as we can. We don't have that much further until we reach the front door, and that door that we can use is only a few meters past that. Savvy?"

"You've been hanging around Sirius for too long," Was the response, but they all shuffled to their assigned positions and lifted.

"Heave, ho!" Cai muttered, but at a glare she just kept jogging. They were almost to the castle when another howl came, and Ash glanced over her shoulder.

"Wait, have we just been running from a little black doggy?" As the dog got closer, she revised her statement. "Er, a big black doggy. Uh, a grim… maybe we should just keep going?" Lily hustled them all inside, and was about to close the door when a snarl reached her ears, and she looked up into a terrible sight.

Remus, claws outstretched, sticking his paw in the space between door and doorjamb (for it was not fully closed yet) to reach them.

- --- - --

Remus looked at them again as he apologized the next day in the Head's Common Room.

"I am so, so sorry," He repeated. "I can understand if you never want to see me again. I wouldn't blame you. I mean, I can completely understand if you don't want to communicate or see your almost murderer, your-"

"Remus, that's rubbish." Cai told him, and everyone nodded their agreement.

"But I lied to you! I almost killed all of you! I can't even think of how that poor girl Bernice would feel if she knew the truth! I mean-"

"Rubbish!" She exclaimed again, this time jumping to her feet. "Honestly Remy, there's something you should know."

Remus nearly shrunk back in his chair. "Its all right, I can take it. I-"

"I've known about your… furry little problem, as Sirius calls it, since third year. Remus, there's only so many times that you can tell someone that your mother is deathly ill, when they have, in turn, seen the extraordinarily healthy woman numerous times." Seeing everyone looking at her strangely, she sighed. "Honestly, I'm blonde, but not _that_ blonde!"

"But-"

"I don't care anymore, Remus, just be quiet. We're not going to hate you forever, we don't care that you're a werewolf, so just be quiet!" Cai exclaimed. Remus shut his mouth, and Cai sighed, "Thank you. Now let's pack up so we can leave."

- - - - - - - - - -

As they assembled in the Great Hall to take the portkeys that would bring them to their destination, Lily started to feel nervous.

"Don't worry," Cai reassured her, "The Potter's are really nice. I mean, honestly, I sometimes like them better than my own parents. If I could, I would just move in with them."

"Really," James broke in, "One squatter is enough. I don't need two people moving into my house."

Sirius ignored this rather obvious jab at his person, and loftily took the old boot in his hand. And as Lily touched the portkey before Professor McGonagall started a rather obvious countdown from five, James whispered reassuringly to her,

"Don't worry; my parents are going to love you."

Not surprisingly, this didn't really help.

- - - - - -

"Well, what do we have here?" A stern voice asked as it approached the group, sounding like a muggle policeman investigating a scene.

Lily cursed the fact that she was terrible at portkey landings.

She also cursed the fact that she had been standing next to Sirius, who was also terrible at landings.

It was really the third in a series of unfortunate events that produced the end result of Lily, Sirius, and a rather fetching leopard print bag being tangled up at the bottom of a pack of students.

Amidst the shouts of "Where did my stuff go?", "Sirius, please stop rummaging around through my things!", and a final, "Sirius, please get your hand off of my face…" James proudly said to his father,

"Hey Dad, this is Lily Evans, the girl I was talking about."

Removing Sirius' hand from her person, Lily looked up fearfully into a face that was peering into her own. Somewhat pleasant looking, Mr. Potter smiled at her as he disentangled Sirius' legs from hers and helped her up.

"Glad to finally meet you, dear," He exclaimed, his voice sounding more humane now that she knew he wasn't a law officer. He had black, messy hair that was identical to James', with bright blue eyes nearly hidden underneath square-framed glasses. Lily sighed, and shook his hand.

"Glad to meet you as well, Mr. Potter," She said in response.

"Oh no, just call me Michael. James has told us so much about you, I feel as if we've known you forever!"

Lily flushed, and looked over to James where she saw the same thing.

"All right, Michael, thank you for-"

"Merlin's beard, Lily, he must like you a lot. I've still got to call him Mr. Potter!" Sirius whispered dramatically. Michael rolled his eyes, before slinging an arm around Sirius' shoulders and dragging him to go carry bags.

_All right, _Lily thought. _I'll do fine. I've already met Mr. P- Michael, and he seems very nice. It can't get any worse than being stuck in a humiliating situation in front of him. I'm sure that Mrs. Potter-_

"Sirius Black!" A voice screeched. "If you take even one more step, I will not hesitate to punish you until it makes the Dementors look like angels! Don't you dare put any charms on those bags. And if you already have…"

"Hullo Mum!" James exclaimed cheerfully, and Lily smacked her forehead with her hand.

_It just got worse._

- - - - - -

_A/N: I'm going to stop it here, because I realized that I haven't updated in forever. I am SOOOOO sorry!_

_Please review!_


	15. Wedding Crashers and Sticky Situations

_Authors Note: Er... oops? I'm sooo sorry that this took... well, I could exagerate and say that this took twenty years to get out but it honestly feels like that to me. _

_Again, so sorry! In my defense... Nah, I've really got nothing. I just hit major writers block and couldn't seem to get out of it... but worked around it eventually due to some inspiration (good or bad, you tell me)_

_Read and review, thanks!_

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR. A lot of other stuff probably belongs to other people... so let them take credit for it. I've lost count of how many obscure movie/school references I've put into this fic._

_- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - _

"Do you want more toast, dear?"

"Oh yes please." When the toast, along with second helpings of everything else had been placed on her plate, she murmured, "Thank you," Before digging in enthusiastically.

Of course, her portion was modest compared to that of James, and it was about one eighth the size of Sirius', whose plate could feed a developing nation.

"Twis ish gwait, mwum," James said around a mouthful of hash browns and bacon, earning himself a glare from his mother and a smack on the back of the head from Lily. The two women smiled at each other, glad to see that somebody was keeping the boys in line while the other wasn't around.

For Lily had been proven wrong fifteen minutes after the initial meeting of a certain Mrs. Potter. Following her screaming at Sirius, Elizabeth Potter had proceeded to force the boys to carry the majority of the luggage and hooked arms with Lily and Cai, talking with them earnestly as they walked to the car.

It had only gotten better from there, as Mrs. Potter had taken the girls out for the day where they had run into Ash and her mother, prompting a female bonding session that had included traveling into muggle London from Diagon Alley.

And all of this happened while she had forced the boys to stay home, cleaning the house.

- - - - -

"Don't we have house-elves for this?" Sirius grumbled as he cleaned the windows. Even with using magic, the task was rather menial and boring.

"Yes, we do," James said, "But Mum wants the task done right. And she always says that if you want something done right, do it yourself."

"So that translates to us doing it for her?"

"I feel that she's punishing you two for whatever you've gotten into during the school year," Mr. Potter put in from his seat in the living room.

"What?" Sirius exclaimed. "We haven't done anything!" When Mr. Potter walked into the room to look at him, he amended, "Well, we haven't done anything _bad_!"

He just rolled his eyes and looked at his son (and foster son). "Well boys, Mum will be home soon, so you can finish up and come into the kitchen for something to eat."

"Why'd she have to go out and take Lil- the girls with her?" James grumbled. Mr. Potter smiled at him knowingly.

"I think she's just excited that there are girls in the house again." He told him, but was interrupted by Sirius producing a florescent colored mess of fabric out of nowhere.

"Isn't it lovely?" He asked, putting it on hurriedly.

"Sirius, why are you putting on that monstrosity of a shirt?" Michael Potter asked curiously.

"Because I bought it during Christmas break, and due to our confining uniforms I haven't been able to wear it yet," He replied hurriedly, as if he had rehearsed that response since the purchase.

Which he probably had.

The unspoken agreement was that if he had put it on while the girls were in residence, the shirt would have ended up in the fireplace or as an adornment for the giant squid.

"Isn't it lovely?" He exclaimed again, and they cringed as they were squinting to see, for it was a fierce lime-green and orange mess.

"Oi, Sirius, could you speak up? Your shirt's too loud!" James quipped.

"I mean, really," He continued on, ignoring James as he struck a pose, "Doesn't it just scream, 'I am Sirius Black, hear me roar?'"

"Actually, the pose screams I'm a little teapot, short and stout… but that could just be my angle," Michael told him. Ignoring Sirius for the moment, for he was currently prancing around the kitchen and admiring himself in reflective surfaces, Mr. Potter continued his previous words.

"Plus, from what you said about Lily, it seems like-"

"We're home!" Mrs. Potter's voice rang out cheerfully, and the boys all ran into the entryway.

"Hello, Mum!" Both Sirius and James shouted, and she smiled.

"Now, have we learned our lesson? No more pranks, and there will be no more cleaning. And Sirius, dear, lime-green and orange are not your colors."

The boys nodded, all while crossing their fingers behind their back.

"Boys," She gently chided, "Help the girls carry their parcels, won't you? And be careful with the dresses."

James looked at her strangely. "Dresses? Why would they need dresses?"

"For the wedding, Jamie!" His mother exclaimed. "Now go help."

As they walked up the staircase, James and Sirius turned questioningly to the girls.

"Petunia is getting married, and I have to go… and Cai is going as well, because her grandmother invited herself."

Cai smiled. "Abuela's the best," She told them. "And she said that we can both stay with her." James blanched.

"When is the wedding?" Sirius asked.

"Tuesday," Cai answered, "But I think we're leaving Monday night."

"Really?" James asked. "You don't have to leave. You can stay. Really, it's no trouble."

Sirius, Cai, and especially Lily looked at him strangely.

"Well, I mean.. er… have fun at the wedding," He said with a shrug, and carried the packages into their rooms.

- - - - - - -

By the time that Tuesday had rolled around, Lily was ready to call it quits.

"I don't wanna go!" She exclaimed as she grabbed onto the doorway of the Brown family home. "You can't make me!"

"Geez, Lils," Cai said brandishing her wand menacingly. "I'm a witch. I can make you do whatever I want." She stuck her tongue out at the angry red-headed girl, and continued prying her fingers from the doorjamb.

"Why do I have to even go to this stupid thing, anyway?" She grumbled as they sat in the car. Being a muggle wedding, they were forced to take muggle transportation. Sometimes that was fun, but at the moment all it did was give Lily more time to brood. "Petunia doesn't even like me, anyway."

"Lily, sweetheart, she-"

"She invited a bunch of stuffy old relatives who only remember that there was a red-headed sister and want to see how you've grown," Cai put in. "I have a feeling she could have hired an actress. Would've saved all of us some trouble."

Carmen Brown ignored Cai's ramblings, and continued driving. "We're almost at the church, chicas. And Cailita, please try and not get into trouble."

"Trouble, me?"

"Yes, you."

"Dang."

As they pulled into the parking lot of the church, all Lily could notice was one thing.

There sure were a lot of people.

"Hmm, maybe we won't be able to find a parking spot and won't be able to go!" Cai exclaimed.

"Ooh, it would be such a tragedy," Lily muttered. Their hopes were dashed as the car pulled into an empty spot near the far edge of the lot.

They milled about among the crowd making small talk until the people dispersed into the church.

"I suppose this is it," Cai said with a grimace. "Let's go off to our certain demises!" She called out, prancing across the walk and swishing her skirt dramatically. Lily and Carmen walked at a slower pace, although they were trying to hurry in order to get a seat in the back, and hopefully be able to make a quick exit to the reception.

However, it was not to be, for most seats were taken by relatives who obviously had the same idea. Word had gotten around that Petunia and Vernon, her husband-to-be had written their own vows, and who knew how long that could go on for.

As they made their way to the front of the church, they found seats in the sixth row and sat down quickly.

"I'm placing a bet on how long this is gonna take to wrap up. Two and a half hours, my guess. Yours?"

Lily was about to answer, when a very familiar voice was heard in front of them.

"Oh, us? We're uh… Uncle John's kids!" When the man looked at them blankly, the voice continued. "You know, married to Aunt Sue. She sends her best, couldn't make it…"

"Well, I know she couldn't make it. She died three years ago!" The man exclaimed.

"Oh… she sends her best from beyond the grave. We become very spiritual after her death." Another voice said, sitting next to the first.

"And what were your names?"

"Bobby and Seamus O'Shea," The first voice answered, and it was at this point that Lily leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Cousin Bobby," She murmured, "Could I see you out back?" Not waiting for an answer, she dragged him up from his seat and pulled him with her. When they arrived and a distance far enough away that no one could hear them without really trying, she angrily whispered, "James Potter, what in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

"Don't you mean Bobby?" He asked, batting his eyelashes playfully.  
"Either way, why are you here and making me look like an idiot?"

"I'm not making you look like an idiot… I'm making Sirius look like an idiot because I left him there by himself. And I'm here because we didn't want you to be alone."

"Cai **is** here, you do realize."

"Yeah, I know, but we figured it would be fun. And you know Cai. First sign of a good-looking fellow, and she'll drag you around to follow him. We tried to get the rest to come, but Remus is 'confined' to his home, Peter is lost, Ash went to visit some family, and Stephanie is still in the States."

"If anything goes wrong," She hissed, "I swear, I will kill you."

"How about just Sirius, okay?" He said cheerfully, hooking arms with her and dragging her back inside.

The wedding ceremony passed by rather quickly, culminating in a fainting spell by Mrs. Dursley and followed by a multitude of tears shed by her daughter Marge at "losing" her loving brother. With a great upheaval, all of the guests made their way around the corner to the reception hall, which was garishly decorated in red, white, and pink carnations.

"Carnations, of all things!" Cai exclaimed as they walked through the entranceway. "Carnations!"

James and Lily laughed as Sirius picked up a basket of flowers from a table and proceeded to put them in Cai's hair.

"Save that for Ash!" She shrieked, hitting his hands away. "Sir- Seamus, stop it!" They all laughed as they watched various guests dodge the flailing blonde, but proceeded to their seats when Petunia and Vernon walked in.

"Geez," Sirius grumbled, "We just had to get the seats farthest away from the dance floor. I want to shake this groove thang!"

The other three looked strangely.

"Si-Seamus," Cai murmured, "Please. Never say that again."

"Besides!" James exclaimed, "We're also farthest away from the kitchens. And everyone knows that those farthest away from the kitchens get served first!"

They sat quietly talking until the waiters came out and brought their meals on covered trays. The meal was rather intricate and included a few things that none of the Hogwarts students had seen or eaten on a daily basis, prompting Sirius to ask the waiter what some of the objects were.

Or it may be known that Sirius was just being rather annoying and asking the waiter what the food stuffs were just for the heck of it.

"Oh, sir, that would be cod loins," The man replied, obviously annoyed that he had been reduced to explaining the entire meal to an exuberant teenager. Sirius immediately spit out what was in his mouth, and yelled,

"I'm eating fish genitals?"

This response prompted the rest of them to spit out their food and laugh, and had the result of the waiter walking away quickly and nearly everyone in the room staring at them.

"Er… carry on eating!" James said quickly, and dragged Sirius out of the room and into the hallway.

"Sirius, honestly, would you stop acting like such an idiot?"

"But James, I was eating-"

"I don't care what you were eating!" He whispered heatedly. "I am trying to impress Lily by being here on a very trying day for her!"

"It's just her sister's wedding…" Sirius mumbled.

"Exactly!" James cried out, and then lowered his voice. "Lily and her sister hate each other. By sticking by her through today and keeping her calm, even though Lils will probably try and kill a few people, she'll see that I'm mature and that I've deflated my head and then she'll like me!"

"But I thought you said you were okay staying as friends?"

"I lied!" James replied. "Why do you believe me when I say something like that? Every time that Lily-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Sirius said, sticking his fingers in his ears and muttering, "Nah nah nah nah… I can't hear you!"

His friend pulled his fingers out of his ears and looked him in the face. "Look, Sirius, I can't have you mess this up for me. Just please, don't act stupid. Don't be an idiot. Don't try to hit on **anyone**. And most of all, no magic!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I've got it, oh wise guru of love. And what is your plan to woo the young lady?"

"I'm gonna dance with the flower girl," The aforementioned guru announced. Sirius waited for more of an explanation, and then asked,

"Wait, that's it?"

James nodded.

"Seriously? You're serious?"

"No, you are." A feminine voice said from behind them. James and Sirius whipped around to find Cai standing a few feet away.

"How much did you hear?" James asked hesitantly.

"Enough," She replied offhandedly. "Just please try and keep her out of trouble, all right? I know its asking a lot, but I have to go and find Chris and show him off to Tuna-face."

"Isn't Chris your brother?" Sirius asked, wrinkling his nose. "Why would you show off your brother to Lily's sister?"

"Because," Cai said with a wink, "Petunia has had the biggest crush on him since forever and a day ago. And she invited him to try and make him jealous, but what she doesn't know is that he brought his girlfriend and I want to make Tuna-face the jealous one, especially on the 'happiest day of her life'." Flipping her hair over her shoulder she turned and fled in the direction of the ballroom.

James and Sirius looked at each other, and rolled their eyes. "Cai," They said together, chuckling at her plan.

- - - - - -

"You're very pretty, you know that?" James said, twirling his dance partner around.

"I know," She replied, grinning up at him.

"You're also a very good dancer."

"I know," She repeated.

"You're also very eloquent."

"I kn- what?"

James grinned at the seven-year-old as he twirled her again. She responded by standing on his toes in order to keep in time with him.

"Hey Janie," He asked, relieved to find out that this distant relative wasn't named after a flower. "D'you think you could take a message from me to someone."

"I dunno," was the reply. "Who?"

"The beautiful red-head over there," James told her, pointing over to Lily who was sitting with Cai and Christopher.

She shrugged.

"I'll take that as a yes," He responded, handing her a small piece of paper. Twirling her one last time as the song ended, he kissed the top of her hand before shooing her off in the direction if Lily.

- - -

"I do hope James realizes that he's not dancing with one of your relatives, Lily," Christopher said in a hushed tone.

Cai and Lily laughed.

"I know, it is rather funny," Lily said in an amused tone. "Especially since she's Vernon's boss' daughter. I don't even understand why they used her as the flower girl."

They made small-talk for a few more minutes, mainly talking about what was going on at Hogwarts, when they were interrupted by Janie clearing her throat. She shyly handed the piece of paper to Lily, and then stood there silently, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.

"Am I supposed to read this?" She asked the small girl, and Janie nodded.

Opening up the paper, she chuckled at what was written.

"Hey, let me see!" Cai exclaimed, taking the paper for herself. On it was written,

'Dance with me?

Check Yes for Yes, Check No for I'll be coming over to get you anyway'.

Christopher snorted. "Rather mature of him, isn't it?"

Lily quickly scribbled something using a pen left on the table, and marched over to James leaving the siblings behind.

"Here you go," She told him sweetly, and stood back to watch his response.

In Lily's neat writing, he saw

'No, I'd rather not have a repeat of the last time.'

Ignoring her wishes, he clasped her hand in his and twirled her around.

"Why wouldn't you want a repeat of the last time?" James asked, smiling. "I rather liked it."

"I'd rather not end up in the hospital, if it makes any difference to you."

"Nope," He told her with a laugh. "Besides, Poppy fixed your toes up fine last time."

Lily just rolled her eyes, deciding to not dignify the remark with a verbal response.

They were a few minutes into their dance when someone tapped James on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, may I cut in?" They turned and laid eyes upon an elderly looking gentleman.

"Of course, sir," James replied, offering Lily's hand to the man before moving over to the table where Cai and Christopher were sitting.

"Hello Lily," The man said as he spun her. Lily looked at him closely. His twinkling eyes reminded her of Albus Dumbledore, primarily, but they also reminded her of…

"Uncle Harry?" She cried out, and when he nodded she threw herself into his arms. "I haven't seen you in-"

"Forever and a day," He finished with a grin.

"Where have you been?" She questioned, and he responded airily, saying,

"Russia, Japan, the Continent… anywhere my heart leads me. And recently it told me to come back here to you." Harry peered into her eyes.

Lily sighed. "I've been better… but my friends have helped."

"And how long did that take?" He said in an amused tone.

"Awhile," She admitted, both knowing how stubborn she was. "But they eventually got through to me," Lily added with a sigh, thinking of the expedition with Cai to the Room of Requirement and of James' insistence that she let out her thoughts and feelings.

"You know of how-" She choked out, somehow unable to finish the sentence.

"I may be a muggle," Harry said soothingly, and quietly, "But I know my fair share about the wizarding world."

"I know, I'm sorry that I forgot," Lily replied.

"No worries," He informed her, rubbing her shoulder.

- - -

"Hullo there, mate," Sirius said with a grin as he perched himself on a barstool.

"What'll you be having?" The bartender asked gruffly.

"What've you got?" Sirius replied cheerfully. Not responding, the bartender reached below the counter to slide him a muggle beer.

Opening the bottle skillfully, Sirius grinned at the man before taking a giant sip.

_One would think with how many times this has happened, I might have a better tolerance for alcohol_, he thought with a laugh. _But I suppose not. Bottom's up!_

- - - -

Lily and Harry made small talk until the end of the song, when he stopped dancing.

"I think I'll return you to your laddy love, for these old bones need a rest," He said teasingly, hugging her briefly before shaking James' hand and moving off to join a group of distant relations conversing about the weather and muggle sports.

"Who is he?" James asked bluntly. Lily, trying to ignore his borderline rude behavior, replied,

"He's like an uncle to me, but not really related."

"And…" He prompted.

"And he's my godfather and I'm surprised he was invited."

"Knowing your friends, I'd say he just showed up," James replied dryly.

Lily rolled her eyes. Before she could say anything else, however, a bodily force crashed into James and almost knocked him off of his feet.

"Lily," Sirius slurred, "Come dance wi' me…"

"Who gave you alcohol?" Lily asked wearily.

"Bob… or George… or maybe his name was Marco Polo…" He trailed off as he looked at the band.

"Si- Seamus," Lily threatened. "Do not even think about it. You are not going up there. No way in-"

She had definitely gotten across to him.

Which was why she had found herself on the small stage dedicated a love song and making a toast to the happy couple.

Looking at her sister and remembering all the pain she had put her through, Lily had the sudden urge to make a condescending speech. But as she looked around the room for inspiration, her eyes connected with James'. He was shaking his head slightly, as if telling her not to do it.

After a few moment's thought, and the realization that James might be right and it might not turn out well if she just let out her thoughts, Lily remembered a conversation she and James had had in the middle of sixth year, near Valentine's Day.

"Someone once told me," She began as she looked out at the crowd, "That I'd eventually find my true love. When I asked what true love was, he replied,

"True love is your soul's recognition of its counterpoint in another.

"And as I look out at the blushing bride and the groom, I realize what he meant. Petunia, Vernon, I'm so happy that you've found your true love. Congratulations to you both!"

- - - - -

The group pulled up to the Brown family home at about ten o'clock that night- They had finally made it out of the reception at about 8:30, but had taken a wrong turn and ended up driving towards London until they realized their mistake.

"Time was… mmmph… funny and… stuff…" Cai murmured as she burrowed her head in the space next to the car window. Lily and James laughed, while Sirius let out an almighty snore. They had tried to sober him up with a sobering charm, but when that didn't work they had just put him into an enchanted sleep and levitated him into the car, after placing muggle-repellent charms, of course.

"I'm quite surprised at you, Lily," Carmen Brown remarked from her seat in the front. "I would have expected you to say something muy malo about the… what did you call them… 'blushing bride and groom'? I know I would have. Really, all Petunia needs is a swift kick in the-"

"Abuela!" Lily admonished, quite shocked.

"Que?" Carmen asked. "I would have said it en espanol!" Laughing, she levitated both Cai and Sirius into the home before turning to Lily and James.

"I feel as if they will not be up to returning back to your home tonight, James."

"We'll just wake up Sirius and I'll double-floo with him, and Lily can go with Cai," He replied. Carmen nodded, feeling as if his response was sufficient, and after a few minutes of hustling they managed to wake up the sleeping black-haired youth and prop him up in the fireplace.

"See you in a bit, Lils," James told her, before throwing down floo powder and yelling "Potter Manor!"

"Hey Cai," Lily said, nudging her blonde haired friend. "You up for coming back with us?"

The girl shrugged. "I didn't pack anything to wear, after unpacking last night. How about I pack up a few things and then head on over in about an hour?"

Lily stared at her. The girl was surprisingly quite communicative for someone who had been as exhausted as she was five minutes earlier.

"Maybe two," Cai amended with a yawn. "I know where my room is, so it doesn't really matter. And I'd like to spend a little time with Abuela before we go back to Hogwarts… a little time just us, not the entire family."

Lily nodded with a smile. "All right, when I get through I'll let James know. If you change your mind and want to stay the night here, just pop on through the floo and let us know. Otherwise we'll probably stay up all night waited for you." Both girls grinned, and Lily waved as she grabbed a handful of Floo powder and prepared to speak her destination.

…_Meanwhile, at Potter Manor…_

James carried Sirius out of the hearth and threw him onto the sofa in the living room.

"When he wakes up I'll tell him not to eat so much," He muttered to himself, before yelling out, "Mum! Dad! We're home!"

They immediately rushed into the room.

"James?" Elizabeth asked, and quickly checked her son over before doing the same to Sirius. "Are you hurt? What happened?"

"Er… we just got back, that's all," James said with a curious tone. "Why? Did something happen?"

"No!" His mother's exclamation, however, was followed by the sound of breaking glass and stone.

"Oh dear," She lamented and looked towards her husband. To James, it seemed to take hours, but in reality it was only seconds while they held their own non-verbal conversation.

In that time, Lily arrived through the floo.

"Hullo, everyone," She said cheerfully. "What's going on?"

"Back through the floo," Mrs. Potter replied in the same tone. "Lets all go on back to the Brown's, haven't visited with them for ages…"

However, the sound of more breaking glass and various thumps distracted them.

"Right then. Mum, what's going on?"

"We're under attack," Michael Potter replied in her stead. "I want you three to go back through the floo and get out of here. Get word to Dumbledore-"

Shouts were heard throughout the house, and he pushed them into the fireplace himself. Throwing Floo powder in, James hurriedly shouted, "Brown Place, Surrey."

When nothing happened, he tried again. And again. And aga-

"Damn, they blocked the floo," Michael Potter said, cursing as he did so. "Probably means that there's a portkey block, as well as… well, that wouldn't matter anyway." He straightened himself up. "Right then. For the moment, we're barricaded in here. James, I need you and Sirius to cause a distraction that will allow us to also take over the kitchen. From there we can get to the basement, and follow the passageways out to-"

An explosion rocked the entire house, and they grabbed onto nearby furniture and people in order to steady themselves.

"Got it? Good," With a slightly manic grin on his face, Michael Potter gave Sirius and James a nudge in the direction of the hallway, and pulled Lily next to him.

"All right, so we're going to wait for-"

Another explosion rocked the house, but this time it was accompanied by a purple smoke.

"Well, that was quick," He finished, covering Lily and Elizabeth Potter as they ran across the hall into the kitchen. What they found, however, was a madhouse.

Thirty Death-Eaters were knocked unconscious by the most recent explosion, but there were still a few giving James and Sirius a hard time. Quickly stunning the rest, they watched as Michael muttered a password at a painting of his family and waited for it to open.

What they came upon, however, was terrifying.

It was obvious that the Death Eaters had used the passageway to get into the Manor, as seen by the obvious destruction along the way. Quickly pushing them out of the passageway and sealing it up, Michael cursed and dragged his family behind a countertop and away from the windows.

"There must be a spy in the order," He murmured, before drawing out plans in the dust at his feet. "D'you two have your brooms?" He asked James and Sirius, furrowing his brow as he looked at the designs.

"Up in my room," They replied simultaneously, and Michael nodded.

"All right then. One of you will have to double up with Lily. You need to get to a safe house. We'll fight them off, and get to another house when possible." He sensed they were about to protest, and stared them down.

"This isn't a game," He said quietly, "I- We need to know that you three are safe. The only way for that to happen is for you to get out of here."

"But-"

"No. Now get." James looked at his parents fearfully before wrapping his arms around both of them and grabbing Lily by the hand. Both she and Sirius hugged them as well before they went over to a cabinet, James and Sirius saying different phrases and dragging Lily up the stairs that appeared.

- - - -

In less than five minutes, they were flying out of the bedroom windows and were on their way to the closest safe house, McGonagall's family home that was a few towns to the west.

However, that all changed when the dark mark went up over the Manor.

James immediately stopped and hovered as he stared.

"I'm going back," He announced. "Lily, go on with Sirius to the safe house."

Lily, who was currently doubled up with Sirius on the broom, glared at him. "James-"

Without waiting for a response, he sped away in the direction of the glowing green mark.

And in return Lily hit Sirius in the shoulder, prompting him to follow.

They all arrived back at the manor in a few minutes, James making a spectacular entrance by crashing through a window (Placing a shield charm around him though, in order to avoid being cut up). What he came upon though, terrified him.

"Ah, I see that the youngest Potter has decided to join us," A haunted voice said, staring between the two males of the Potter family. James looked in the direction of his father and received a glare. A clattering indicated his mother sliding to a stop in the doorway next to the window that James had flown through.

"As well as the mother, how charming," Voldemort drawled. "It's just terrible that this family reunion will have to be cut short."

Before anyone could respond, a muttered curse came and a sickly purple light hurtled in the direction of James, who stood there like a deer in the headlights.

Time seemed to slow. The only thought running through his head, oddly enough, was _I never told Lily I loved her, and now she'll have no one to take care of her._

However, the impact that he was bracing himself for never came. Instead a different weight hit him, and he slumped to the ground with a body in his arms.

His mother's body.

"Mum?" He asked softly, shaking her arm. "Mum?"

"Fool," Voldemort hissed. He made as if to send the curse again, but a bludgeoning curse sent by Michael changed his mind and the battle resumed.

- - - -

Meanwhile Sirius and Lily had entered through an already broken window a few rooms down, and came upon four Death Eaters having fun destroying the Potter Family possessions. Sirius and Lily were quickly separated, Lily barricading herself behind a sofa and a broken door that been found wedged between walls at the end of the hallway, and Sirius going from room to room distracting the Death Eaters enough so he could stun them.

However a reductor curse stopped him in his tracks, for in dodging the beam of light Sirius managed to get trapped under the rubble that fell from the ceiling.

Pushing it all off he tried to avoid the debris on his ankle, which was surely broken. However, the Death Eater was still at large and was currently laughing as it leveled its wand at Sirius.

A red light knocked the Death Eater to the ground, and a red-haired girl hobbled into the room.

"Hey, thanks Lils!" Sirius said hurriedly. "I've got a bit of an injury here. D'you think you could-" He broke off as Lily collapsed in a heap in the middle of the doorway, and instead of finishing his previous sentence he yelled, "James! Get in here now!".

- - -

"James! Get in here now!" James heard Sirius yell. He tried to make his body respond, but all he seemed to be able to do was pluck helplessly at his mum's sleeve. A vase smashing to the ground broke through his thoughts, and he carefully pulled his mother off of his lap and placed her gently on the ground. "I'm sorry Mum," He told her, resisting the urge to cry, and picked his wand up off the ground and raised it to meet Voldemort, who had just sent an orange light at his father.

A set of many loud cracks announced the arrival of reinforcements (although neither James or Voldemort could tell if they were their own sides) and the dropping of the anti-apparation shields that were thought to be in place. Looking out the window Voldemort spied the silver head of Dumbledore, and sneered at his opponent.

"I'll see you again, James Potter. Count on it," He informed James before apparating away. Dumbledore was already in the room by the time that James was running in the direction of Sirius' voice.

- - - -

Everything that happened in the next hour was a complete blur for James. It hadn't really hit him yet what had happened to anyone; he was still running on adrenaline from the battle and it wouldn't take effect until a few hours later. At the moment, his only concern was for his best friend, his parents, and his-

"Mr. Potter?" A healer in white robes asked, stopping in front of him.

"Yes?" He replied gruffly.

"We've stabilized your father, and he's expected to recover fully. We've also healed a Mr. Black, and at the moment he is resting in the trauma ward. Due to the current circumstances, we felt it would be best to place your father in a private room-"

"What about Mum?" He asked softly.

The healer sighed. "We're doing the best we can to stabilize her. The curse is of unknown origins, most likely a modified form of Dark Magic. We have the best specialists working on her now."

"And Lily?" James asked in an even lower tone.

"Miss Evans?" The healer clarified. When James nodded, she continued. "Miss Evans was hit by a spell that we were initially unsure of the effects of. However, we have stabilized her condition and she is also expected to recover-"

"Can I see her?" James asked quickly. Noticing the healer about to say no, he turned on the puppy-dog eyes. "Please?"

She sighed. "I suppose, as long as you stay quiet and do not disturb the patient."

- - -

Not disturbing the patient seemed to only last until the patient woke up, for it seemed as if as soon as Lily opened her eyes she and James got in a row.

"I'm sorry," Were the first words out of his mouth, to which a groggy Lily replied,

"Excuse me?"

The healer had come in to inform James that he could see his father fifteen minutes previous, only to find the aforementioned boy grasping Lily's hand in his and whispering to her. Smiling, she managed to check up on Lily before leaving and being spared the worst of the storm.

"I'm sorry," He repeated.

"What for?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

James bowed his head. "I put you in danger. I'm so sorry, it'll never happen again. I'll do everything I can to-"

"James," Lily interrupted. "You can't do that. You can't promise that things will never happen to me."

"Yes I can. I can watch you all the time, I can make sure you're protected, you won't ever have to face-"

"James," She told him, seething. "You can't. It's impossible."

"You were hit by a curse, Lily," He pleaded.

"And exhaustion. So what? I want to take down Voldemort, James. How can I not get hit by curses doing that?"

"You almost died!" He pleaded.

"My parents did die!" She whispered heatedly. "Don't you think I deserve the chance to avenge the people I loved?"

James looked down at the floor, blinking back tears. Lily didn't know how close the people that James loved had come to being killed by Voldemort in the past 4 hours.

Lily seemed to not notice his hesitation, and continued to prattle on and on about how James was inconsiderate, that she had just overworked herself a smidge, and that she didn't need him fawning over her and making decisions for her left and right.

And that's when he thought, _I almost lost Lily there. My Lily. No matter what, she'll always be **my** Lily._

_Shut up, Potter_, a voice said. _You know that she's not yours. Never has been, never will be._

_You're wrong, _he retorted, _once she realizes-_

_Yes, **once** she realizes. But when will that day ever come? Sirius finally decided on a quidditch team he likes-_

_Your argument makes no sense,_ he told the voice.

_-and that's just about as important to him as love. That's been years in the making. And you're thinking she'll realize it in what, a matter of minutes. You stupid, inconsiderate, pr-_

James Potter proceeded to shut off the annoying voices currently arguing in his head, and then proceeded to do the single most stupid thing he had ever done in his life. Even more stupid than the time he and Sirius decided to see if they could fly without broomsticks by jumping off the roof of the Potter home. Even more stupid than the time he decided to go for a swim. At night. In the Hogwarts Lake with the giant squid. In the middle of winter. Even more stupid than- Well, let's just say this was more stupid than anything else he had ever done before, and that includes selfishly pursuing a girl who, let's face it, had absolutely no romantic interest in him, along with a host of others things that would probably terrify his friends and family members (excluding Sirius) who are terribly concerned for his safety.

For at precisely 12:34 AM in the trauma ward at St. Mungo's, under the eye of many healers, **and** an unconscious Sirius, James Potter did the stupidest thing in the history of stupid things ever done by a man in love.

He leaned forward, grabbed her by the shoulders, and proceeded to shut her up in the only way he could think of.

He kissed her.


End file.
